One too Many Crossovers
by Seena58
Summary: When did fairy tales consist of redheads and fluffy bunnies and Phantom Thieves? Well, when our dear characters get sucked into another dimension, well... you decide. DISCONTINUED
1. Prelude Stage: It Wasn’t Supposed to be

FOREWORD: Welcome to One too Many Crossovers. This is a little Prelude Stage, setting out for what's gonna come next, yadda yadda yadda, you know what I mean. This is a mix of parody/romance/humour and maybe action/adventure {haven't decided yet} so, hopefully, it'll be to everyone's liking. Please don't try to bite my head off, though.

DISCLAIMERS: I have never wanted to own DNAngel, 'cause even if I did, it would never happen [not to mention it would just be about crazy sword wielding maniacs killing stuff and all]. Also, Cinderella doesn't belong to me either, otherwise who knows what could have happened!

RATING: G at the moment, it's relatively safe, so... if it should come, I might have to move the rating up a bit. Who knows now, and who really cares?

Other:

() Daisuke

(()) Dark

:: Satoshi

:::: Krad

{} my rambling comments. You don't have to read them if you don't want to.

Now let's just get this show on the road!

* * *

Prelude Stage: It Wasn't Supposed to be this Way! (aka 'Magic really turns the World Upside-down, doesn't it...')

* * *

The sky was, as usual, clear and sunny, and just a WEE bit too cheerful, which really tried a particular Phantom Thief's patience, and, for one thing, Dark was never the type of person to wait, and, well, he wasn't going to wait now, so...

That was how the story started {and I don't mean by just being a chaotic day for the little redhead who's the host of this guy}.

((Lemme outta here.))

(You know I can't, Dark,) whined Daisuke, as Dark repeated the same message for the tenth time, (we're not only at school, but I'm with all my friends, so if you decide to take over now...)

((Who cares!)) cut in the Thief impatiently, ((Just say you need to go to the bathroom or something. Or... I could always take over your body and pretend to be you or something...))

(You can't!) thought the redhead, horrified, (I won't let you do that again! Please, Dark...) his voice {head voice, whatever. Mind} turned back to normal as he continued, (we have a job tonight anyway, so you can have your fun then.)

((So you say, Daisuke, so you say,)) Dark settled back into the corner of his host's mind, ((wake me up is something interesting happens.))

(Okay...)

It was, of course, another school day, as normal as any other day, although the class had suddenly seemed eager to do another play after the 'Ice and Snow' story, and for some reason or another, they had decided on...

"Oi, Daisuke! Pay a bit more attention, will ya?!" demanded his best friend Takeshi, catching him off guard as he threw a book at his head.

"Saehara!" yelled the redhead indignantly, rubbing his forehead where the book had hit him, "You didn't have to do that!"

"That's right! That was uncalled for!" agreed Riku, frowning at the other boy.

The class was sitting outside on the lawn, since it was such a peaceful day, and the book Takeshi had thrown was what they were supposed to be studying. Of course, it wasn't really studying, but since it was still schoolwork...

"'Oh, Cinderella, I feel so sorry for you!'"

"... was that directed to me?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow, while his best friend sniggered, "It wasn't like I asked for the girl's part...{here we're referring to the Ice and Snow story, not Cinderella}"

"But you did make a good heroine, Niwa-kun," Risa said, looking over her copy of the Cinderella story, "but maybe this time..."

"Yeah, boy guy and girl characters," cut in Riku, smiling kindly, "so maybe you won't have to do anything that bad... heh..."

"..." (That was so embarrassing though...) thought the redhead, (that's the last time I want to play a girl's part...)

"If Dark-san was the prince!" Risa was saying, "Then I'd love to be Cinderella-!"

"... why do you always have to drag him into the conversation, Risa?" sighed her older twin, "Can't we have ONE conversation that's Dark-free?"

Daisuke set himself back, reading over the EXTREMELY old fairytale story, and wondered why they were doing it in the first place. Of course, there were reasons for such a story, but he didn't know it.

Not until that night, anyway.

---

The night was eerily silent and still as Dark made his way through the security-filled museum, not being noticed by a single person, except, of course, a particular blue-haired boy with glasses {aka Hiwatari Satoshi}...

... or the homicidal blonde.

"Krad..."

"Welcome back, Dark," Krad said smoothly, as he began to form energy into the palm of his hand, "although this may be your last night..."

"Whatever," the Thief jumped out of the way as the energy shot out at him, and prepared for his own attack, while Daisuke yelled at him from the back of his mind.

(Dark! We don't have time to do this!)

((Just be quiet, Daisuke. He just tried to kill us, not to mention he's hurt you before...))

(But Krad... and Hiwatari-kun...)

((Just stay out of this for once.))

Shutting the redhead's voice out of his head, Dark began to focus on his own spells, while trying to stop himself from being blasted into a wall.

Meanwhile, in Krad's head...

:Stop it! I can handle that thief without your help.:

::So you say, Satoshi-sama, but this has taken too long. With one blow, and then he'll be gone, if I do it...::

:Krad!:

At first, the blonde thought Satoshi was trying to let his guard down, but, turning slightly, he noticed that THAT wasn't the reason.

The art piece, Angel's Wing {um... it's just a fancy shaped art piece like a wing. Golden, as well...}, was beginning to glow faintly; pure waves of energy flowing through the room.

(... what's going on? Dark?) Daisuke asked.

((This energy is...)) Dark stopped trying to form the energy, ((pure evil energy, or something...))

:What is this...:

::An ill omen. For the Angel's Wing to activate like this... it could only mean...::

The world suddenly seemed to shatter like glass, sucking them into an unknown portal that flashed random colours and different forms of energy. As they were forcefully dragged in, a voice - that they couldn't identify as male or female - spoke to them softly, voice echoing.

"_A fairy tale... that's what they always thought... but maybe you can change our destiny. Somehow..."_

"Daisuke-kun! Hiwatari-kun! Dark! Krad!"

Another voice cut in, jerking the two out of an unknown trance, "Akane?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah!" answered the voice of their classmate, "But this is bad! You're being pulled into another dimension!"

"You're telling ME that?!" bellowed the Thief indignantly, "What the hell are we supposed to do now?!"

"Go with the story!"

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"

"Celes worked out the pull of dimensions!" explained Akane patiently, "And you're going into a STORY! So just go with the flow!"

"Actually..." cut in the soft voice of Celes, "you might have to do it your own way. With you in their places... just take care and don't worry. Once the story is finished, then you should be sent back..."

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST TELL US WITHOUT THE USELESS STUFF?!"

(Um... maybe you should calm down, Dark.)

"We'll do whatever we can from our side," Akane's voice seemed fairly worried, "but just remember that it's a story and anything is possible!"

"... take care..." whispered Celes, her voice fading away weakly as the world seemed to open up to the two. Before they knew it, everything went black.

###

"Why did this have to happen now?" muttered Akane in annoyance as the connection broke off abruptly. She was of average height, with her hair down up in a long plait that fell past her shoulder blades.

"We have to be patient now," Celes, who was actually shorter than her friend, gave a consoling look into the vortex that they'd been using to communicate, "but since the time dimension is different... no time will pass in this world than in that world, so we should..."

"Go there, got it," finished Akane smoothly, "I'm on it. Oh, by the way..." she blinked thoughtfully, "which story were they pulled into, anyway? I mean, what's the reason behind this sudden distortion..."

"During the battle, Krad must have activated the Angel Wing's power," the other girl explained, "and remember that the magic it holds allows the spirit of fantasy stories stretch far and wide, and sometimes they want a happy ending, but this one is a bit strange..."

"Could you just tell me which story they were sucked into?"

"Cinderella."

---- And so the tale began... ----

Well, things ended up changing, because the first part was, well, supposed to be just my random notes. After checking the guidelines, I was forced to change it, so here it is! Hopefully everything will be okay...

Akane and Celes are from The Flames of Time, but you don't have to read that story {it's incomplete anyway} to know them, since they won't be playing a major role in this story.

I'm open to suggestions, always have and always will. I don't think there's been a story like this before, but if there is... I didn't steal it! This came from the top of my head, so, if they seem similar... coincidence. You can point it out if you want to, but please don't bit my head off in the process.

Now you can go to Stage 1...


	2. Stage 1: Definitely NOT once upon a time...

FOREWORD: The story is set into stages, mainly 'cause I think it goes with the story. Anyway, this is the first stage of this story (it will drag out for a while since it just isn't one happy ending) and I hope you enjoy it!

NOTES: The first and last bits are in some void or another, where Akane and Celes comment on the story. So if you don't wanna read, you don't have to, since it won't effect anything.

How much humour can I cram into it? I really have no idea, since this isn't as a script (for some reason, they're easier to make more fun of in that way) so don't expect to laugh your head off all the way.

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own DNAngel, nor Cinderella, 'cause if I did, then they'd all be blowing up monsters or something. All too true...

IN THE LAST STAGE: For some reason or another, Daisuke's class decided to do the story Cinderella for their school play. That night Dark meet Krad, Krad attacks with magic, Hikari item activates, pulling the characters in. What now? For the story that they were dragged into is no other than Cinderella...

Other:

() Daisuke

(()) Dark

--- a time space

{} my own rambling opinions. If it annoys you, then just don't read it.

_Italics_ are used when Dark and Daisuke are talking outside the lines of the story. So it shouldn't be too confusing to work out what's going on, hopefully... If you do get confused, just tell me and I'll fix it up.

And I'm open to all opinions: How to make it better, what I shouldn't be doing, etc., 'cause I don't wanna get crushed like last time for something I wasn't even aware of (sadly. I never expected scripts to be kicked out. Hmm... oh well. What's done is done.)

Enjoy!

* * *

Stage 1: Definitely NOT once upon a time...

* * *

The void, that seemed endless, was nothing of interest as Akane padded in the blank surroundings, frowning slightly as she thought over what had just happened.

"Cinderella... but how could this be? That's the most absurd thing I've heard for a long time," she muttered. She stopped as Celes stepped in, "So... what did you find out?"

"It is all too much for me to just to send them back here," the other girl said sadly, "I am so sorry about this, Akane..."

"It wasn't your fault," she cut in firmly, "but we have to do our best on this side to get them back here."

"_Oof!"_

"Oh... Dark?" called Akane through a small mouthpiece-type thing, "are you okay now?"

"_Um... where the hell am I? ... Daisuke?!" _there was silence for a moment, and then Dark's relived sigh, _"He's still here..."_

"What about Krad and Hiwatari-kun?" she asked, as Celes fell into thought and didn't seem ready to say anything.

"... _well, they ain't here, I'll say that much,"_ came back the muffled reply, _"so now what?"_

"Cinderella," repeated Celes, "you are in that story, so you must be careful. For who knows what will happen now..."

"_WHAT?!"_

"We'll watch from this end," Akane assured him, "but make sure nothing bad happens, or..."

"_Great... another story world playing thing..."_

The connection broke off and she sighed, "We can only watch, can't we..."

"It is strange, though," whispered Celes, "but many characters have been replaced by people in this world."

"... now what?"

"We watch... and hope for the best."

-And so, this was how the tale begins... {not with once upon a time, though... pity...}-

The morning sky promised a calm, dry day, and Daisuke took a look out the window, where the breeze played cheerfully with the short strands of red hair. Leaning on the sill, his eyes roved around restlessly, until a knocking sounded on his door. Getting up hastily, he called out.

"Yes? The door's unlocked. You can enter," he said. The door creaked open slowly, and his grandfather, Daiki, entered, carrying with him a large wooden box which seemed fairly heavy, "Oh, grandpa, what are you doing here? I thought you said you were going to the other side of the world..."

With a slight thud, the old man could only shake his head at whatever was running through his head, "I'm sorry, Daisuke, but I guess we kept this a secret from you for too long, and with your mother gone, I am sure it's really hard on you."

Daisuke seemed slightly confused, "Was that from mum, then? Before she got chased out of town?"

"Chased?" repeated Daiki softly, "Do you really think she's still alive? Ah well, go ahead and open it."

The little redhead obliged, and could only stare at the pieces of leather that spilled out before him. Picking one up carefully, he frowned slightly at his grandfather, who shrugged.

"You know she loved to make clothes," he explained, "and she left these in my possession, until you reached the age of fourteen..."

"You mean about Dark?" cut in Daisuke, and Daiki froze at this before giving the boy a suspicious look.

"How did you know that?" he asked slowly, as if trying to decide whether this Daisuke was the real one and wasn't a police officer pretending to be his grandson. With a sigh, the redhead nodded and gave the clothes another bewildered look.

"I had my birthday about three months ago," he said, "so this is really for Dark then?"

Daiki seemed fairly shocked, "I was away for so long I forgot when your birthday was!" {Heh... he's being chased out of town as well. Yeah, his 'trip around the world'.}

"That doesn't matter, Gramps," Daisuke waved it away without another thought, "Dark explained everything to me when I first transformed, and he's sleeping at the moment, so we shouldn't disturb him," he them gave a long look at the old man, "does this mean you're staying here?"

Hope shimmered in the boy's amber eyes, but Daiki could only sigh and reply sadly, "No, I have to leave again in one hour. If they were to know I had come her to visit you again."

There seemed to be a flash of pain in the boy's eyes, but it vanished almost instantly, "That's okay, Gramps, I understand," he said in a slightly hurried tone, "just be a little careful, or the police will catch you one day..." {for one reason, I will never know...}

"Just like your mother," patting Daisuke's hair playfully, Daiki smiled, "except maybe not so hyperactive. Just be a good boy and listen to your father and everything will be okay."

"Yeah, okay," with a smile, the boy waved as he grandfather crept out of the room and out of sight {expect unexpected visits from Daiki, he'll be in once in a while.}. As a heavy silence fell, another voice {which Daisuke only knew too well by now} spoke to him in a rather disapproving tone.

((Why didn't you just tell him? He was me before you were, you know {um... that didn't make any sense, did it? I am SO confused now!!}. ))

(Dark? I thought you were still sleeping,) Daisuke replied as he placed the clothes back into the box and shoving it unceremoniously under his bed before returning to the window. The Phantom Thief mumbled something about flying pigs but then answered {um... flying pigs chosen at random. Hm... do pigs really fly? Will they ever? The mystery will forever remain...}.

((Was and will after I finish telling you off,)) Dark finally said haughtily, ((You have to start learning to speak up for yourself. And do you EVER plan to tell your father that his choice in women, after Emiko, really, really stinks {or sucks, whatever you want}?))

"I can't just say that!" exclaimed the redhead, and the Thief snorted in exasperation at his host's innocence.

((Yeah, you are just too kind, Daisuke. It's really going to take you far,)) he said sarcastically, ((one day you're going to lose everything because people do take advantage of you out there.))

(... but that's how I am,) Daisuke finally said, looking out the window again, (I just can't change myself like that.)

((You can't, but I can!)) Dark proclaimed, ((And your lesson is going to start tonight!))

(sn't the wedding tonight?)protested Daisuke, as he left his room, locking it as he went, (We can't just miss it, or we'll be punished.)

((You will,)) chuckled the Thief, ((but just have With take your place. That way,)) the redhead could almost see the smirk, ((we can crash that party to the ground!))

"What?!" screeched Daisuke, stopping at the top of the stairs and tumbling down before he could catch his balance. Flipping forwards, he managed to stay on his feet that time, but couldn't help but yell at Dark, (WE CAN'T DO THAT! THAT'S EVEN WORSE THAN YOU KISSING RIKU-SAN! {ooh, life story, Dark, you're life story! Poor poor Daisuke...} DARK YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!! Although, it would be interesting to see the effects...) {oooh... should we should we should we???}

((Ahem,)) Dark coughed patiently, ((So does that mean we're in agreement? Besides, your father doesn't even know about me, since he isn't of the Niwa blood. Not to mention that he doesn't even know you properly. Doesn't speak to you, play with you, no... father-son bond, if you know what I mean.))

(Okay, fine,) the redhead gave in, opening the front door and leaving the large mansion-like place which was the Niwa estate, (but please don't get too careless and get us caught.)

((We're not going to get caught, Daisuke,)) insisted the Thief, ((now, I'll just have a bit of shut eye.))

Almost instantly Daisuke could hear his other half's snoring uproariously, and shut it out of his mind before going into a brisk stride. The town {turning into city} was peacefully quiet, since it was still early in the day, and he felt relaxed and at ease, unlike when he was trapped in the house, with his company being his darker half and a demon bunny by the name of With. He was also aquatinted with a pair of girls by the name of Risa and Riku, with him having a crush on the younger one {and rejected him, thus leading to his transformation, blah blah blah.}. If there was one thing that Daisuke was good at, it was making friends with practically everyone he met.

As it was, while the redhead was occupying himself with the view, he felt his feet leave the ground, and he fell, only to look up at a boy his own age with jet black hair.

"Saehara?!" he yelled, jumping up, "Where did you come from?!"

"As usual, Daisuke, you are too predictable," Takeshi said cheerfully, sitting down, "you always come here at the same time every morning, no matter what the weather, so what did you expect?"

"Maybe I should be asking you why you're here?" smiling, Daisuke sat down next to his childhood friend {for ten years. They've known each other since they were four!}, "You aren't the type of person to go out in the morning to enjoy the sunrise."

"Nah... but Dark Mousy's coming again tonight!" his eyes sparkled with a light that Daisuke only knew too well, "And I found out yesterday from my old man! I couldn't sleep at all, so..."

"I think I get the picture," the redhead cut in, Dark... so you already sent out a notice without my permission. AGAIN...

There was the unmistakable sniggering in the back of his mind, and he sighed, not bothering to berate the Thief, as he had already agreed to the destruction that would reign that night.

"You know, he's after that thing your father bought that woman he's been going out with lately," Takeshi continued, jerking Daisuke out of his thoughts {and Dark's sniggering, which was getting louder and louder with every second that passed}, "so I thought it would be best to warn you so you could warn your father," his face cracked into a grin, "of course, this is THE Dark we're talking about, so there really isn't much one can do..."

Nodding in agreement, he took a look at the clear sky, which was like a faded painting, (I think I'll start painting again. It's been a while since I did a really good one...)

((That was 'cause you were depressed with Emiko's disappearance,)) Dark pointed out, not bothering to pretend to be asleep anymore {Daisuke already knew anyway, with all the sniggering}, ((not that I blame you. Weird as she was, she was your mother and she's a much better woman than that... thing your father's been going out with, he shuddered, you'd have to kill me first to marry something that looked like THAT!))

(She's doing it for the money though, isn't she?) Daisuke asked, (Not out of love.)

((Well, duh! Great work, genius!)) snorted Dark, ((Obviously it's the case, or I'm a psychopath! There aren't many wealthy families around here, so what do you think?))

(You don't have to bite my head off like that,) pouting slightly, he pulled himself back to reality in time to hear Takeshi's question {whatever it was. I never caught it either}.

For one reason or another, Daisuke had a feeling that this tale was not going to be a smooth one.

_(Dark, are you sure we should be doing this? Shouldn't we be trying to find a way out?) _asked the redhead as the story continued in full flow.

_((We have to trust Akane and Celes now, so don't worry,)) _replied Dark coolly, ((_We'll get out of here.)) _

Daisuke sighed, (_I sure hope so...) _

---

Upon entering his home a few hours later, he noticed that the hallways were oddly quiet {not that they had any servants, but there was usually this strange bumping sound which could've been some sort of spirit, but... it was not making the usual bumping sound}. Frowning, Daisuke padded across the hallway and, sliding a door open slowly, he checked inside. He repeated the process a few more times, before finally giving up and going to his own room. His father, he knew, would not be home until sometime after midday, which meant that he would have to kill another four hours elsewhere.

When he entered his room, he was greeted by a small bunny-like creature, which jumped into his arms, 'kyuu'-ing happily.

"Ah, With, had a nice sleep?" asked the redhead, patting his soft fur, "Last night was a close one wasn't it? Good job you were there when you were."

"Kyuu!"

"Yeah, no thanks to Dark," his tone held a slight amount of venom, and Dark laughed nervously.

((How was I suppose to know that someone would put a magical trap out for me?)) he protested, ((whoever it was, they knew what they were doing, but it's strange...))

"Huh? What's strange?" asked Daisuke, turning to a mirror, where he could see Dark, who was frowning slightly. Shrugging, the Thief allowed a hand to pass through his dark violet hair.

((Very few people can use magic,)) he finally said, ((they all lost it after a while, because they were incompetent. The Niwa family had a natural talent in the magic field, but I can't remember any other family that could use it without going bonkers...))

"Hmm..." looking around his room thoughtfully, it didn't take the redhead long to locate his old painting equipment, "maybe they did go bonkers after it," he suggested, taking another look out the window. It didn't take him long to start a painting, and, in almost no time at all, he had finished a rather quick painting of the sky, and...

((Oi, what's this?)) asked Dark, peering curiously at the small black smudge, ((it almost looks like a person with wings...))

"Hm? Maybe..." Daisuke blinked, "I was just letting my hand do all the work, so..."

Dark seemed oddly silent after that, making Daisuke slightly uncomfortable. After a while, he snapped back to attention and coughed importantly.

((In any case,)) he said, ((let's just go on until the comes, right?))

"Uh... okay..."

Unknown to the two, a single, pure white feather floated past the open window.

_((Did Cinderella start like this?)) _

_(No. But why is it that... this is so confusing...) _

_((And you're telling me this?)) _

_(...) _

---

The sound of the front door opening snapped Daisuke back to attention to whatever he'd been doing to pass the time {you know, painting, reading, talking to With... and Dark, etc.}. Biting his lower lip, he shoved all his paintings {he had quite a few done by that time} under his bed where it couldn't be seen and waited until an older male {who looked so much like him, minus the red hair} entered the room.

"Oh, Daisuke," said the man, who was obviously his father, "sorry that I haven't had any time to spend with you--"

In the back of his mind, Daisuke heard Dark snort, ((Yeah, you've been wasting time with that...))

(Dark!) he yelled warningly before replying to his father {who had finished his apology, except they hadn't been paying attention}, "It's okay, dad, I know you've had a lot of work to do lately."

((You mean like trying to figure out whether or not his only son can use magic?)) asked the Thief innocently, ((they're getting rather suspicious now, you know...))

"I mean," Kosuke scratched his head, as if uncomfortable to be with his son, "since tonight is the night..."

"Hmm?" Daisuke blinked.

"I found a message saying that the Phantom Thief Dark was going to steal something during the wedding," he sighed, "and I don't know if anyone can stop him."

"Dark is going to the party?" the redhead asked innocently, "But what is he trying to steal?"

"The ring I bought for your stepmother-to-be," explained Kosuke, and then started to explain about how expensive it had been, but Daisuke was paying more attention to what Dark was saying.

((This is gonna be a cinch, Daisuke. Leave it to the greatest Thief of all times and nothing could possibly go wrong!))

(But, um...) something flashed in the other boy's mind, (I know With is taking my place, but... what if someone want's to talk to him? How is he going to get through with that? How am I going to get through with it?! Dark, there's too much on the line! Couldn't you steal it later or something?)

((No can do,)) declared the Thief, ((by now, your loudmouth friend would've told everyone. Come on, it'll be fun. Trust me!))

Frowning slightly {and only then noticing that his father had left the room}, Daisuke shook his head, I trust you Dark. (But... sometimes I wonder how you can stand it...)

((Because I'm Dark Mousy!))

(As expected,) looking out of the window, the redhead sighed, (But I don't think this is going to be as easy as you say it is.)

Dark fell silent at this, and an uncomfortable feeling began to well inside of Daisuke, (Dark?)

((Nothing's going to go wrong,)) said the Thief, ((nothing.))

But Dark's tone of voice said otherwise, and Daisuke couldn't help but bite his lip. Something was going to happen that night.

But what, he didn't know...

-End Stage 1-

"Ah! The connection's back!" Akane jumped up and ran over to Celes, "Can we talk to them now! I was getting really worried about what was going on!"

"_Akane-san?"_ asked Daisuke's voice, _"Are you there?"_

"Yeah. So... are you still okay? Haven't lost your sanity yet?"

"_No, but... how are we supposed to go through with all this? And what happened to Hiwatari-kun?"_

"We are trying to work that out now," replied Celes coolly, "so please do not worry."

"_But Dark's gonna..."_

"Just be careful."

"_Okay... bye."_

"Sorry for not being able to get you guys back here."

"_It'll be okay. Right?"_

"Yeah..."

The connection broke off in a cackle of light.

---- What will happen during this wedding? Well, we won't know until the next part! So this means... please stay tuned! ----

Finished: 31/07/04

Up: 13/08/04


	3. Stage 2: Wedding Mishaps, no?

FOREWORD: Whee! Here's Stage 2! Uh... this is fun to write, but I have so many to complete already, so why am I doing this?! I guess it's just me, so, hopefully, I won't start putting up anymore stories (and this doesn't mean I won't write more). I've already got three DNAngel fanfics up, lessee... about three in writing and planning... one script... and then there's the others... yeesh. Hope you enjoy this, though!

NOTES: The first and last bits are in some void or another, where Akane and Celes comment on the story. So if you don't wanna read it, you don't have to, since it won't affect anything.

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own DNAngel, nor Cinderella, 'cause if I did, then they'd all be blowing up monsters or something. Actually, that sounds like fun. Maybe I should do that at one point...

IN THE LAST STAGE: Now that Daisuke and Dark are trying to work out how the story goes, they find out that people they know are also in it. And, for some reason, Satoshi is nowhere to be seen. As they start a new day in a city-turning-into-town type of setting, things seem just a bit... out of hand. Well, when it's Dark we're talking about, what could possibly go wrong?

Other:

() Daisuke

(()) Dark

--- a time space

{} my own rambling opinions. If it annoys you, then just don't read it.

_Italics_ are used when Dark and Daisuke are talking outside the lines of the story. So it shouldn't be too confusing to work out what's going on, hopefully... If you do get confused, just tell me and I'll fix it up.

COMMENTS: Whoo-hoo! Wedding catastrophe is in the air! What more could one ask for? Especially since Emiko was chased out of town, Daiki is being chased by police, and Kosuke is about to marry a... woman? Um... I'll get back to you later.

Not to mention that both Krad and Satoshi are nowhere to be seen. Where are they? Are they safe? Is there any chance of them getting into the picture? {I think you know the answer to that} Something just doesn't seem right...

Anyway, let's see how Daisuke's gonna cope with this.

* * *

Stage 2: Wedding Mishaps, no?

* * *

Akane sighed under her breath, as she waited for Celes to redirect the transmission and get them back to Daisuke {and Dark, obviously, since they are the same person in the end}.

"What's confusing me," she started slowly, "is where Hiwatari-kun and Krad went off to. Did the story do this on purpose? Or... are they just mindless zombies in this story now?"

"I do not know, Akane," replied Celes, as threads of energy lightly flew all over the room, "but we cannot do anything about that now. We must keep an eye on Niwa and Dark, in case the worst should happen to them."

"..." she shook her head and sat down heavily, 'Why does this always have to happen to them? It's so annoying...'

"Ah! Connection is back!"

"_Are-are we there?"_

"Daisuke-kun..." Akane bit her lip, "do you have any idea on what to do now?"

"_Well, I did agree to ruin this 'wedding', didn't I?" _replied Daisuke in a cheerful voice, which really didn't suit the mood of their current position, _"So we're going to do that now? I wish the story would go a bit slower, though..."_

"Watch out, though," pointed out Celes, as she felt the connection breaking again, "I think someone is manipulating this story."

"_Ok--"_

"... someone is controlling the story?" asked Akane, frowning, although it was more concerned than annoyed or angry, "Did you confirm that sometime when I wasn't around or something? Although it's only been five minutes?"

"I was working on it during the first part," explained the other girl patiently, "and I do believe that someone is behind all this. Who... I do not know."

"Well," she said, "as long as we can find out how to reverse the spell, then we have to watch them, right?"

"Yes..."

"I hope Dark doesn't do something stupid."

"I agree."

-And so, Stage 2 was set to begin...-

The night was still, the sky was clear, and it, was, well, sometime long ago, where not much was really happening, so, Dark was around bugging his host to do something interesting before they had their little 'job' to do.

((Come on! Just for a minute!)) he said in a whiny-type of tone, which, as he knew, annoyed Daisuke immensely {and that was why he was using it. Besides, he hated that tone of voice too, but he was too proud to admit it. Oh well.}.

(You know I can't just do that!) replied the redhead firmly, (the last time you took over, you caused chaos beyond imagination. Lucky for me it was really dark that night so no one recognized me...) {ah... let's not talk about what happened that night. You can decide on it.}

((But last time you didn't want me to,)) protested Dark in a would-be innocent voice, ((so I'm giving you a choice: let me take over for a bit and nothing happens, or I'll take over without your permission and, you knows what happens then?))

(DARK!) shaking his head, Daisuke sighed in annoyance, (why can't you just go to sleep or something? You're going to be allowed out tonight anyway, so you should be glad for a bit of shut-eye.)

((... hmph,)) the Thief snorted, but gave in {why? Well... he was just too lazy to argue}, ((I'll make sure we have a fun night tonight!))

(... okay...) Daisuke decided against asking what Dark meant by that exactly as he took another look out the window, "Well... it'll only be about another hour and a half, anyway. And dad made me promise not to go out until they were sure the security was prepared..."

((And it never will be,)) finished Dark, (('cause they're dealing with a famous thief here, you know.))

(Whatever,) Daisuke shut the other voice out of his mind, {so that Dark would go to sleep and that he would be allowed to think without being disturbed, la de da} (Just sleep already.)

Silence fell between the two, with only With's odd 'kyu's in between intervals, as the redhead looked out the window of his room. Being an only child had many disadvantages {well, lonely, really. I can't relate, since I have a number of brother and sisters. Blah}, especially since he didn't have any adults to supervise him or keep him company {well, the mother is, well, out, gramps if being chased by police, and father, poor poor father, is getting married to who-knows-what! Of course, he was sensible enough to not do something stupid.} and he was left with Dark and With over half the time {who makes the meals? Who does the cleaning? Why do they live in such a large house? I honestly have no idea. Oh, and talking to yourselves, even if they do reply as a completely different person, us not a good sign. I think we'll have to send Daisuke to a psychiatrist after this...}. He could, of course, invite Takeshi over {and Sekimoto... does he even have a first name?!}, but since he was busy with getting ready for Dark's appearance {and Sekimoto is... wherever}, so there was no chance there.

With a slight sigh, Daisuke turned back to his painting, which was now dry. Something about it had made his alter ego worried, and it left him confused and wanting answers. The scenery itself was peaceful, full of the basic blues and the odd shades of green, but what really caught his attention was the small black splotch that almost looked like someone, or something, flying. Other than that, it seemed fine, but...

"Yeesh, what's wrong with Dark these days?" he muttered under his breath, the final rays of light fading away from his room, "I wish I knew what was so suspicious about that little splotch..."

Flicking a light switch on, he jerked up as there was a knock on his door. Shoving his possessions away hastily, he opened the door, to see his father looking agitated. And behind him was...

"Um..."

((Ahhhh! Creepy fat woman who doesn't look like one!)) yelled Dark insultingly, although his voice was more disgusted than anything else, ((Get her away from here!))

"Dear," said the woman in a thick, unidentifiable accent, "vy ish thish young man off yoursh not prepared?"

"Daisuke, we're going in a minute," whispered Kosuke in worry, "so you're going to have to change quickly."

"Yeah, sure..." trying hard not to look too disgusted {and repulsed, and trying hard not to vomit all over the floor at the same time out of sheer disgust as well as the fact that Dark was in the same position}, he nodded in understanding, "I'll be down in a minute!"

Shutting the door and locking it, Daisuke beckoned to With, who hopped up onto his shoulder, "With, I hope I can count on you this time."

"Kyuu!" in a puff of smoke, the small creature turned into the redhead, like an exact replica {cloning technique, perhaps?}, "Daisuki!"

"You can't say that, With!" hissed the redhead in worry, throwing over a pair of clothes that he was supposed to wear for the 'wedding' {by gunpoint. Heh}, "Wear this and try not to make a scene this time, okay?"

"Yessir!" replied the second Daisuke, smiling.

((Aw... that is just so adorable,)) snickered Dark, ((especially since it's you but not you we're talking about.))

(Are you directing that to me?) Daisuke {the real one} dug out the box full of black clothes, (so... what do you want to wear, anyway. We can't do something too flashy, knowing mum...)

((Ooh! That one!))

(Huh?) the redhead pulled up the called article, (This?)

((Yeah, why not?))

(No... I have nothing against it... {"except that it makes me look like a crow." Ahahaha... [gets chased out]}) he shrugged before changing into the said costume half-heartedly, (and it's too loose for me...)

((That's cause it's supposed to fit me,)) came back the simple reply, ((so hurry up and think about Risa already!))

(Do you have to yell so much?!)

"Daisuke!"

"Gah!" spinning around, the redhead collided with 'Daisuke', and both boys fell to the floor with a loud 'thud!' against the wooden floorboards. Scrambling up and straightening his clothes again, Daisuke began to berate the other boy {who is, as we know, With}, while Dark laughed in the background.

"With! Don't do that all of a sudden!"

"Kyu?"

((AHAHAHAHAHAHA! You should've seen your face, Dai-chan! It was priceless, I tell you, priceless!))

"Are you ready to go, then? I'm trusting you on this one, With!"

"Yep!"

((Well, you wanted him to act just like you, and, what do you know, he succeeded! You should be proud of him!))

(Shut up, Dark, we've gotta go as well,) ushering 'Daisuke' out of the room, and closing the door firmly, the redhead flicked the light off and slid to his window, praying that With wouldn't mess up with what he had to do, (if With stuffs up, I'm dead.)

((Oh, you mean like the last time With had to take your place?)) asked Dark, going back to his usual style of speech {and no longer trying to insult Daisuke, since there was nothing to be insulted about}, ((man, that woman-thing was so sharp! If I were you {and he is, really}, then I'd run far away and never set foot in this place, you know.))

(But...) Daisuke fell silent as he caught sight of 'Daisuke' through the window, (he looks safe... for now.)

As they disappeared from sight, the redhead closed his eyes, and began to concentrate on the girl he 'liked', and, sooner than he expected, he was being pushed back and he changed into Dark {and, no, it's not the whole pretty lights and beams transformation kinda thing. He just... changes. [and I was talking about Sailor Moon here... .shudders.]}.

"Aaah... it's good to be back again," the Thief stretched, dark violet hair tumbling over his eyes before he pushed them back, "now we can get the show on the road, right, Daisuke?"

(Whatever... just remember that we can't be caught,) Daisuke reminded him.

"So you say, Daisuke, so you say," he chuckled, "but, since you didn't let me take control before..."

(DARK---!!!!)

"Just kidding," grinning, Dark jumped out the window, landing lightly on the floor, "I'm not that stupid, or careless, so don't go screaming your head off."

(... you better not.)

Shrugging his shoulders at Daisuke's mistrust, the Thief slid off into the shadows, ready to cause more problems than necessary.

((_Why do I always have to look like the bad guy?_))

(_But you always act that way anyway._)

((_..._))

(_Let's just get this over and done with._)

((_I'm with you... I guess._))

---

The night was dark, the air was still, and villagers seemed more cautious than usual. Dark couldn't blame them, although most women really liked him, and he knew how much Daisuke's friend Takeshi loved to record something. And, then, there were the police. Of course, they really weren't a threat of any kind to the greatest Phantom Thief of all time, but still they tried, and he had to congratulate them on that, at the very least. {weird writing pattern. Sorry!}

((Aw... wish With was here. We could just fly there if he had been...)) he grumbled in his mind.

(This was the only way, though,) Daisuke pointed out, (and we know that he can't run out from a wedding...)

((Here we are! {insert little heart here}))

(... you weren't even listening to me...)

Chuckling softly, Dark peeked through a window into the church, where the wedding was being held. Sure that no one was paying any attention whatsoever, he slipped off into the shadows, opened a back door {somewhere} and entered into a completely darkened room, with the moon being the only light source.

((The police were supposed to be all around the church, no?)) he asked, ((I didn't see anyone...))

(Um, behind you?)

Spinning, the Thief saw someone trying to jump on him, and quickly dodged the sudden assault. Angry voices could be heard as the police began to pile into the room, while Dark watched from the shadows, ((What a bunch of losers. Look at them tripping on themselves.))

Stretching, he walked off until he found what he was looking for, "Here we go! Who would think that they would leave this unattended?"

Tucking it away safely, Dark made for the door, until...

A flash of light struck out of nowhere, and he was forced to dodge, as the power {whatever it was} hit the floor and it exploded, leaving a rather large chunk of earth in its wake.

"Bloody hell..."

(What was that?!) asked Daisuke in obvious panic, (Dark?!)

Surprised screams rent through the air, as more beams {of something} flew out of nowhere and began blowing up the building, dust and rubble {and who knows what} flying everywhere.

Catching sight of With, Dark called to him, despite Daisuke's protests, "WITH! COME!"

(DARK! If we call With, then 'Daisuke' will--)

Before they knew it, a pair of black wings came out of nowhere {practically, although it was night, so no one could see much anyway} and Dark was out in the sky, wind blowing past his ears, and, it wasn't long before the energy was being directed towards where he was.

"Who the hell's doing that?" he muttered, searching wildly for a sign of someone, anyone, who was actually doing what they were doing. Eventually he was forced to give up and make a break for it, but he was suddenly thoughtful, ((That was...))

(Dark?)

((It's nothing,)) landing in his room, Dark checked for any physical injuries. Despite a couple of bruises, he seemed fine, and nodded at With, "Great job, With, you better go back now."

"Kyu!" he left, with a shower of black wings scattered in the room.

Dark changed back and the redhead flopped back on his bed, not bothering to change out of the clothes and took out the small item they had taken. His alter ego was snoring already, so he closed his eyes, trying hard to work out what had happened.

"Someone attacked us..." he muttered, "but... I was sure I saw someone... with white wings..."

((_Yo, Daisuke._))

(_Yeah?_)

((_White wings? Are we talking about..._))

(_I think. I hope With's okay..._)

((_... we really need to find a way out of here._))

(_Agreed._)

---

The familiar sound of a door opening jerked Daisuke out of his half-sleep. Jumping off his bed, he opened the door a crack, until he caught sight of the other 'Daisuke' {who was not his twin, or anything} and let him enter. He was shocked to see him looking rather depressed.

"What happened, With?" he asked.

"Daisuki..." whispered the other boy, "no good..."

"Huh?" the sound of someone approaching made Daisuke quickly get With to change back and pretended to be changing, until Kosuke entered, looking rather distressed.

"Well, um, I guess the Phantom Thief did come," he said slowly, "but son, I need to tell you something."

"Huh?"

"You're going to be living with your stepmother and stepsisters for a while. I... have to go on a business trip."

-End Stage 2-

"So now what?" Akane sighed in annoyance, tugging her hair as she waited impatiently.

"Connection will be back soon."

'But... Krad was there?'

"_Oi! Hey there!"_

"Dark..." both girls said in unison.

"_Had any luck on getting out outta here?"_

"Not yet," replied Celes slowly, "but I think we will get there soon."

"_Okay. Gotta go!"_

"Bye."

Once silence fell, Akane turned to face her friend, "We really need to find out the reason behind this. I'm going to get the item that took them there, okay?"

Before anymore could be said, she left.

"Oh, Akane..." Celes shook her head, "if only we knew..."

---- Now what? Well... Daisuke's gonna have to cope with this... stepmother and stepsisters of his, so... oh yeah, and was that guy Krad? Well, we'll just have to wait and see, right? ----

Finished: 19/08/04

Up: 20/08/04


	4. Stage 3: Why the World Wouldn't Leave hi...

FOREWORD: Okay, it has been a while since I decided to forget about this, but since no one had read it, I thought that no one was interested, so I thought 'might as well leave it to rot for a while before I come back to it...'. So it was surprising when someone DID review it and who woulda thought! So now the story's dedicated to my first reviewer Icy Phoenix. Anyway, here's stage 3 and all that usual junk, and hope you enjoy it!

NOTES: The first and last bits are in some void or another, where Akane and Celes comment on the story. So if you don't wanna read it, you don't have to, since it won't affect anything.

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own DNAngel, nor Cinderella, 'cause if I did, then they'd all be blowing up monsters or something. Then again, what do I own in this world? Nothing of interest, anyway. Blah and all that.

IN THE LAST STAGE: The night is set for Dark's next appearance, the two boys find themselves arguing about Dark's freedom before the 'job' they have to do, and then night falls. What's new there? After a brief meeting with Kosuke's, er... 'Wife-to-be', With is left to take over Daisuke's place in the attendance to the wedding.

Dark passes the guards easily did they even have guards then? and finds what he wants to find, but then gets attacked by an unknown ball of white light three guesses to who it was!. They get past unscathed and Daisuke returns home, in time for With to come. Only... now Kosuke is leaving on a business trip gee... I wonder why and that means the redhead is left with that... thing.

NOW how is Daisuke gonna survive? Well, let's just wish him the best of luck and continue with this story.

Other:

() Daisuke

(()) Dark

--- a time space

my own rambling opinions. If it annoys you, then just don't read it.

_Italics_ are used when Dark and Daisuke are talking outside the lines of the story. So it shouldn't be too confusing to work out what's going on, hopefully... If you do get confused, just tell me and I'll fix it up.

COMMENTS: As per usual, this story was going to be left to rot, but, since someone is reading it, I'll be continuing it. Yeesh... what else do I have to lose in this tale, anyway?

Krad: Maybe... your life?

Okay, forget I said that. Anyway, now that our dear little redhead is stuck with that creature I've identified as a person, so what's happening next?

Let's just see for ourselves, shall we?

* * *

Stage 3: Why the World Wouldn't leave him Alone.

* * *

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Celes turned in time to see Akane enter the void again. She inclined her head slightly, regarding the small item that the other girl was holding with slight amazement.

"So this... is what took them there?" she asked?

"It seems so," came the reply, as Akane stared disdainfully at the item that was placed at the palm of her hand, "who would've thought that that would be able to do anything dangerous. But I guess everything created by the Hikari will possess some power or other. This one was probably one created by a child... by the effects of it in the first place... fairy tales... pft."

"Indeed... it is beyond the explanation of life itself..." murmured the Priestess thoughtfully, "but as I said before, it seems that someone, or something, is controlling the power and forcing Niwa and Dark to play in their little game of fairytales..."

"So you say..." her eyes narrowed to slits.

They were cut short by the sound of distortion in the air, and Celes got up gracefully, before moving towards the heart of the void. She held both hands up and, after a few seconds, she nodded and spoke up.

"Niwa... are you okay?"

"_Ah... yeah," _was the hesitant reply, _"but... but I don't know how much more Dark can take from this... he's already complaining more than usual... it's kinda scary, listening to him."_

"Really?" as she placed the item in her pocket, Akane moved to join her friend, "Well, you do know that no matter what he does, he can't just get out like that. It may be some time yet..."

"... _Dark's not happy," _Daisuke's voice laughed nervously, _"but... I won't repeat what he just said..."_

"Well... never mind him," Celes said with her usual tone of extreme and impossible calm, "just keep an eye out for anything and anyone, you understand? We have to work on what we have, and, you never know, we may get a clue on your side of the story."

"_Uh... okay..." _mumbled the hesitant reply, _"Well, later..."_

"Take care."

The voices faded off smoothly, and Akane fidgeted slightly, to catch Celes' attention. She blinked at the other girl, who was frowning slightly and holding the small item up.

"Akane?"

"Celes, I think you should get started on this," she stated bluntly, as she placed the small item at the palm of the other girl's hand, "I think I have a few things that need to be dealed with first."

Before she could open her mouth, for the second time that day, Akane disappeared in the void's mouth. The gaping hole closed slowly, as Celes could only shake her head in bewilderment.

"Why must you always rush into situations like that?" she murmured, taking a closer look at the item, "Now... how should I start..."

-And thus, Stage 3 began...-

The next morning was greeted with thick, gray clouds swarming the usually cheerful sky, and Daisuke had found himself unable to sleep. His mind remained on the conversation he had had with Kosuke the night before yes, it was only last night.

"_I know that you're having a hard time adjusting at the moment, especially with both your mother and grandfather gone. And I know that I barely have any time to spend with you. But... won't you try to be nice to your stepmother?"_

"_B-but... Dad... you know... um..."_

"_I'm leaving tonight, so, just be a good boy. I'll come back as soon as I can."_

"... _What are they trying to make you do this time?"_

"_I don't know... but, son, just promise me that you'll be nice to her..."_

"... _Okay..."_

"_It'll be okay, Daisuke, I'm sure of it."_

((Are you kidding me?)) Dark spat, bringing the smaller boy back to reality, ((It won't be YOU who'll be giving the other person a bad time. It'll be HER, I'm sure of it.)) Ahaha... yah, Kosuke just said it then, and now Dark's copying him... I think. Never mind.

"But what can I do?" Daisuke asked, as he lay back and closed his eyes, "You do know that if I fight back, I'll be disowned by the family..."

((So? Be disowned! That way, you can start a new life, or, even better, find Emiko and live with them again!))

"It would never be that easy..." he murmured, as he felt his attention wavering, "look, we'll talk later..."

To his surprise, Dark didn't answer cause he was bored with the conversation, and it wasn't long before he had fallen asleep. With, who had been curled at the foot of the boy's bed, looked up as Dark appeared next to the sleeping Daisuke. Violet eyes reflected annoyance and pity for his other half as he swept a hand over the boy's blood red hair.

"When did he deserve this?" he asked to no one in particular, "Why did he have to suffer so much for no reason? Damn..."

"Kyu..."

_((... Why does this always have to happen? And why do I have to be so... unlike me?!))_

_(What? You don't care about me?)_

_((... That isn't the point.))_

_(What's that supposed to mean?)_

_(Never mind.)_

---

"Wake up!"

At the sound of an unfamiliar shrill female's voice, Daisuke fell out of bed with a muffled yelp, With falling with him. As he struggled to get out of the tangle of the thick sheets, the door shuddered violently as the voice repeated the message.

"Get out of bed, you lazy boy!"

"What the--" he spluttered, (Dark? Know who that could be?)

((I'd prefer that we don't know,)) replied the Thief, grumbling slightly, ((Why can't we just get some peace and quiet for once?))

"Hurry up!"

As he listened to his alter ego, Daisuke managed to escape the tangles of the bed sheet, and changed out of his pajamas quickly. Once he was done, With jumped on his head and he opened the door, only to see—

((AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!! NOW THAT IS WRONG!!!!!!! MUTILATION!!!!! GET IT OUTTA HERE!!!!)) screeched Dark Well, Dark does insult people, and torments Daisuke, so... --;;.

The redhead swallowed nervously, as he took a look at the person before him. At first sight, he would have thought the person if it was one was male, but his mind reminded him of what his father had said before "Help me... they scare me...", not.:

"She has two daughters, step-sisters for you," he had explained, "so I want you to respect them as well."

((YOU CALL THAT A HUMAN?!)) continued Dark, jerking the boy our of his thoughts, ((I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THAT'S IT, DAISUKE, LET'S GET OUTTA HERE AS SOON AS THE CHANCE PRESENTS ITSELF!))

(Dark...), he started in a warning tone before turning to face the person, "Ah... yes?"

"Mother wants to talk to you!" demanded the girl well, unidentifiable... thing, "So get down there already!"

"Okay..." Daisuke couldn't help but feel slightly nervous, especially since Dark was still yelling in the back of his mind, and he slid downstairs.

(What do you think she... wants from us?)

((Whatever it is, it isn't a good thing,)) replied the Thief, having recovered from the first shock and no longer needed to yell to get his point across, ((So you better prepare for the worst, Daisuke.))

At this, the redhead swallowed and knocked on the large double door, which led to the 'master' bedroom. Eep... poor little Dai-chan... I think I ought to kill someone soon for this...

"Iz zat you, Daisuke?" called the thick-accented voice, "Enter."

He turned the handle slowly and pushed the door open, revealing the luxurious room before him, where the woman cough... thing... cough... help him... gags lay in bed. One other person sat by the bed, and the redhead slowly made his way towards them.

"Is... is something the matter?" he asked, trying to remain cool, (This isn't good, this isn't good, this isn't good...)

"Ah... yez..." said his 'stepmother', "now that dear Kozuke haz left for a buzinezz trip, I have decided zome new rulez to vollow in thiz houze."

"R-Rules?" repeated Daisuke repeated weakly, as he continued to yell in his mind, (This isn't good, this isn't good--)

((I think I've heard that message one too many times, Dai-chan,)) cut in Dark firmly, ((Now could you just drop about that particular topic?))

"Yez, rulez," she nodded her head, an evil smirk on her plump face, "and I have many that will change thiz houze and how it functionz."

At this, she leaned closer, the smirk still in place, "Ve have no zervantz in thiz houze, to my... dizpleazure, and I can zee that Kozuke doezn't care about you. So... thiz iz the deal..."

_((Now this is wrong, Daisuke...))_

_(I already know that, Dark.)_

_((When I find out who did this to us, I'm gonna kill them, so don't stop me, okay?))_

_(But the question is who did this to us.)_

_((Well, soon they're gonna be sorry for messing with both of us. By far... they'll wish that they were never born...))_

_(Uh... let's not go into detail, Dark.) _--;;

---

((NOW THIS IS THE STUPIDEST THING I'VE HEARD IN MY DAMN FRIGGEN ENTIRE LIFE! HOW THE--))

(Please be quiet, Dark,) pleaded Daisuke, as he kicked a rock moodily, his gaze fixed intently on the stone pavement, (We can't do anything about it.)

The sun was still blocked by the thick sheet of clouds when the redhead had stepped out for a little fresh air. His mind well, more like Dark was refusing to accept the fact that he was being forced to do things that he didn't want to do and that there was no way out of it.

((Why should YOU be the one to have to act like a SEVANT to them?!)) demanded Dark with indignation, ((Just let them live in their own FILTH for all I cared! And do you really think that they're gonna treat you RIGHT?!))

(I can't do anything about it, Dark,) the redhead sighed as he kicked another rock, (and we'll get in trouble if we don't listen to her... and I promised dad that I would be respectful...)

((... Sometimes I worry about you...)) the Thief shook his head mentally, of course, ((One day you'll learn that life is cruel almost all the time we live on it.))

(Well, you come and go with every Niwa boy that comes your way,) pointed out Daisuke, (so you'd know lots of things.)

((Yeah, well--))

"Niwa-kun!"

"Eh?" taken by surprise, Daisuke turned in time to see a girl with short, reddish-brown hair running up to him, her eyes shining with happiness. He stopped so that she could catch up to him, and she smiled at him.

"I was hoping to see you, Niwa-kun."

"Riku-san," he returned the greeting, smiling in return, and then looked around expectedly, "It's nice to see you again as well. But... where's Risa-san?"

He frowned slightly, since the Harada twins were rarely separated during the day and something about the younger twin's absence seemed suspicious. Riku tossed her hair back but nodded understanding with his concern.

"Risa hasn't been feeling well," she explained simply, "and she got herself all worked up about Dark when he appeared yesterday."

At the use of the Thief's name, her eyes flashed dangerously, but it was soon replaced with dejection as she continued her story, "So she went to the wedding yesterday. But... when that sudden attack came on us..."

"Risa-san was injured?" horror-struck, Daisuke could only gape.

"Not badly," soothed Riku, "I was there, remember?"

"Ah... of course. But... Riku-san, why were you looking for me?"

At this, Riku blushed, "Well... yesterday... when I saw you... well... I thought you liked Risa! But then you liked me, and then--"

She trailed off miserably, "Sorry, Niwa-kun, but it looks like Risa might not recover from this, so... we might be moving to another town... I'm not sure yet..."

"... I... I see," confused by her outburst, the redhead could only blink in confusion, "But, Riku-san, you are the one I like, so... Risa-san is more like a good friend to me now. Not that she ever returned my feelings anyway..."

"S-sorry..." she took his hand in her own, still embarrassed, "I didn't mean it that way Niwa-kun..."

"It's okay," he smiled, "Please say hello to Risa-san for me."

At this, Riku smiled again and hugged him briefly, "Okay! Bye, Niwa-kun!"

He watched as she ran off in the opposite direction from where he was going not like he was going anywhere anyway and then turned away, (So... what did With say last night?)

((Who knows, but I'd rather not ask.))

(Okay...)

Shoving his hands deep in his pockets, Daisuke walked off aimlessly. The breeze ruffled his hair gently, and a calm fell over the scene.

_(I don't like this, Dark... we have to get out of here.)_

_((I know that already...))_

-End Stage 3-

Celes frowned as the connection cackled back to life, 'What does this mean? I still can't find out the reason...'

"_Celes-san?"_

"Yes, is something wrong?"

"_Is Akane-san there?"_

"No... did you find something out?"

"_Well... Dark suggested something, so..."_

"What was it?"

"_Ah... well, you see..."_

Celes sat back, "Okay, I'll listen. Akane will be back soon."

There was a sigh, _"Well..."_

---- So... what's the idea? I dunno... we'll just have to find out! ----

Ahh... took me forever to finish this, so please don't hate me. I have had to do so much already, so... if you want, you can read my other stories, okay? Well, nevermind. Here we are!

-- Reviewer talkback:

- Icy Pheonix: You like? You like? I'm so happy you reviewed it! Hope you like the update!

- Hakudoshi-chan: Well, there has been fairytale disorder, by neko-nya, but that's more on random fairytales. You should check it out if you haven't yet. It's cool. Thanks for the comments!

And about the weird thing with Riku at the end... don't ask. It was just thrown in at random. But... hope you guys liked it! 'Til next time!


	5. Stage 4: Why You Shouldn't Take Things f...

FOREWORD: I'm sleepy... and tired... and I've been banging my head against the wall. Is that enough for you?

NOTES: The first and last bits are in some void or another, where Akane and Celes comment on the story. So if you don't wanna read it, you don't have to, since it won't affect anything. Actually... I think I'll just throw them away for awhile, since nothing much will happen... yet.

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own DNAngel, nor Cinderella, 'cause if I did, then they'd all be blowing up monsters or something. Maybe I should do that...

IN THE LAST STAGE: Well... Daisuke got very moody and Dark was yelling like there was no tomorrow. Three guesses on what happens next.

Other:

() Daisuke

(()) Dark

--- a time space

&Comment....& my own rambling opinions. If it annoys you, then just don't read it. Okay, there won't be as many, since I'm getting confused myself.

_Italics_ are used when Dark and Daisuke are talking outside the lines of the story. So it shouldn't be too confusing to work out what's going on, hopefully... If you do get confused, just tell me and I'll fix it up.

COMMENTS: What am I? Superman? As long as I do an update, I can be happy... which reminds me... argh, still got Shrouded in Darkness and Darkened Heart to contend with, not to mention that other one... cringes in the corner I think I'll go into hiding for a while...

* * *

Stage 4: Why You Shouldn't Take Things for Granted

* * *

Celes waited patiently, while the void remained silent and lifeless. She didn't even turn when Akane entered, looking angry with herself. Sitting down next to the Priestess, she sighed.

"People aren't as nice after the first meeting," she muttered, as if that explained everything.

"Now, Akane, just remain calm for a moment and let us think this over thoroughly," came the simply reply.

"I guess I'm just a bit worried then. So... did you find anything out that can help us?"

"Well, Niwa has a suggestion that you may want to listen to."

"... Go on..."

Celes fidgeted for a moment, "Well, to begin with..."

-Let's just cut it off and start Stage 4, okay? Or are you opposed to it?-

"BOY! GET IN HERE NOW!" bellowed one of Daisuke's Evil Stepsisters. &Comment: Haa... should I give them names?&

With a sigh, the redhead dragged himself out of his own bedroom and managed to get down the stairs without tripping once. During this, he had a conversation with Dark, who was obviously in a bad mood.

((How are you going to live with yourself?))

(I'll manage.)

((I wonder what you're gonna tell your children...))

(I don't want to talk about that at the moment.)

((And you think that I'd forgive someone if they forced me into THAT?!))

(I wasn't going to ask you that question.)

((AND HOW CAN YOU STAND WEARING A DRESS IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!))

&Comment: I just died from laughing too much...&

(Dark, don't remind me...) moaned Daisuke as he shook his head, (It's bad enough to wear one, but to be REMINDED that I'm wearing one...)

((And WHY did you agree on that?!))

(Maybe it was because they burnt most of my normal clothes?)

((ARE YOU SAYING THAT I HAVE TO WEAR THAT AS WELL?!))

(Calm down! I still have a few hidden away... and I still have all those costumes mum made for you.)

((Right. Whatever.))

At this, Dark fell silent and Daisuke stopped at the foot of the stairs. The older of the two Stepsisters smirked at what he was wearing, but then turned to a mirror to look at herself and then at the redhead.

"I'm still prettier than you!" she shrieked before stalking off.

Daisuke blinked as she slammed a door close by.

(That... was unexpected.)

((You're telling me?))

"There you are," the younger Stepsister scuttled over to him while trying to keep her balance, "You know that mother won't be happy if you don't do what we tell you to."

"What do you want me to do?" asked the redhead, inclining his head because Dark was talking to him yet again.

((If you don't run away, I'll just run away for you! I mean, you might lose it all in the end, but what about OUR reputation?!))

(Who would I go to, then?)

((We'd find someone!))

(So you say...)

"You have to clean the bathroom floor!" declared the Stepsister, jerking Daisuke out of his conversation. She pointed at a bucket close by and muttered a few more words before; "You have to be done in half an hour! And then you have to clean the living room and also work on making lunch... we won't be doing it again, and then you also have to wash the windows--"

((In a dress,)) added the Thief.

(DARK!)

"Do it now!" commanded the Stepsister before she flounced off into another room. He heard it slam forcefully and wondered for a moment how long it would take for the entire house to collapse with the way they were treating it.

He picked up the bucket and shook his head in annoyance, "I don't care too much about all the chores," he muttered, "It's what I'm wearing that's really bugging me at the moment..."

((What happens if Riku comes over to visit?))

"... I don't want to think about it."

_((A dress?))_

_((You know, I think you look pretty cute in dress, Daisuke.))_

_(Did you have to tell me that?)_

_((Well, it's the truth!))_

_(Dark...)_

_((Just be glad you don't have long hair. If that was the case...))_

_(DON'T TELL ME! Let's just... continue already.)_

&Comment: Daisuke looks cute as a girl, anyway. Who doesn't agree with that?! ... Don't mind me, I'm high on lack of sugar...&

---

Moodily, Daisuke scrubbed at the bathroom tiles. It wasn't necessary, he noted, since he used to be the only one to use it and he always kept it clean. But remembering that he had other people living under the same roof, he sighed in frustration.

((It may look fine now,)) Dark pointed out while the redhead scrubbed away, ((But wait until THEY get into this room.))

"Do you really have to tell me that?" the redhead muttered as he soaked the rag he'd been using, "I thought we had a mop somewhere. Why did they make me do this with pieces of cloth?"

((They want you to suffer.))

"That's nice."

Daisuke frowned as he continued with the job, while Dark muttered about anything and everything that came up in his mind. For this, the boy was glad; at least he had company instead of doing it on his own.

Once he was finished, he got up again, "What do I have to do now?"

((Kill someone.))

"... That's not funny, Dark."

((To me it is, but I'm dead serious,)) the Thief said in a less-than-serious voice.

"Let's just go already..." Daisuke shook his head while Dark laughed and heaved the bucket up to find a way to dispose of the now dirty water. He found himself dragging it out to the garden and, without as much as a second glance, he threw the water into the garden.

((Can we kill someone now?))

"Stop asking that!" the redhead burst out and went back inside. Because he didn't turn around, he failed to see the shadow that had been watching him from behind a rather tall oak tree. &Comment: Did I need the 'tree' part? I don't think so but... eh.&

Daisuke finished the other jobs set for him at record speed and without much delay. Except when the older Stepsister, who was only a year older than him, came out once more to give him a snide comment.

"You'll never be as pretty as me!" she declared before she made a 180-degree turn to walk off... only to fall face first onto the floor. Luckily for her that they had been in the living room during that time, and the floor was covered with more carpet than needed.

"Are you okay?" the redhead asked, while Dark sniggered in the background.

"I've never been better!" she scrambled up again and flounced off, only to fall down in the hallway.

Daisuke shook his head, smiling, as he continued to work on cleaning up the room, which was, like every other room, so clean that cleaning it again wasn't even necessary.

"Kyu!"

"With?" he turned as the white ball of fluff hit him face first, "What's going on?"

"Kyu!"

"Oh, you're hungry, aren't you?" Daisuke poked at the creature that was currently occupying his head, "Well, I'm done here anyway, so why don't we get something for you?"

((You seem to be handling the situation pretty well, Daisuke,)) Dark pointed out, ((How can you adapt so easily?))

(Dark... saying that makes me sound like some animal,) he shot back as he went to the kitchen, (And, in a way, this takes up some of my spare time...)

((Where you could be visiting the Harada twins or even hang out with that weird friend of yours, Saehara,)) his other half pointed out.

(Yeah, I guess...)

The kitchen was as large as the living room and lavishly furnished. Sliding past the chairs and benches that got in his way, Daisuke opened the refrigerator door and pulled out some strawberries for his pet.

While With was occupied with the food, the redhead began to make lunch. Not knowing what the rest of his 'family' wanted, he made anything that came to mind and served it without getting any signs of gratitude.

((Let's go before they start yelling at you.))

(Agreed.)

Picking up With, who was still gnawing away at the red fruit, Daisuke made his way back upstairs. His bedroom had obviously become his refuge and was the only room that his Evil Stepmother didn't possess the keys to. Taking this as an advantage, so that they weren't able move him anywhere else, the redhead opened the door and entered.

His bed covers were thrown across the floor, while the sunlight filtered through the still open window. His desk was scattered with papers, most of them sketches of whatever he saw, and he moved over to them to rearrange them.

((I'm going out tonight,)) Dark told him.

(Huh? As in a 'job-going-out' or just a 'wandering-around-going-out'?) questioned Daisuke as he set the papers straight.

(('Wandering-going-out',)) was the answer, ((But I have a job to do tomorrow, okay?))

(I guess after all this I have nothing to complain about.)

((Okay, whatever. I'm sleeping now.))

The redhead shut the sound of the Thief snoring away and sat on his bed, contemplating on the strange turn of events that he had been forced into. Inclining his head, he went back to the wedding fiasco.

(Who was attacking us in the first place?) he wondered, (And why? Big beams of really dangerous light... hm...)

"Kyu?" With looked up at him and wagged his tail before leaping onto his lap. Curling up, the small creature fell asleep almost instantly and Daisuke stroked the soft fur unconsciously.

_((Time for some bloodshed.))_

_(Dark! ... You sound too much like Krad now.)_

_((Well, once we find out who started all this, I am gonna kill them anyway. If you don't wanna see it, than keep your eyes closed.))_

_(Celes-san agreed on your theory, though. Maybe we'll be out here sooner than you think.)_

_((And then I'll kill whoever started this.))_

_(Dark...)_

---

"BOY! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

He sighed as the shriek reached his ears. Removing With from his lap slowly, he opened the door and locked it before, once more, going down the stairs. The younger Sister's face was bloated – like waiting was something she wasn't used to – and was obviously angry.

"Where were you?!" she demanded, "You have a lot of work to do, you know!"

"I know..." (I did?) Daisuke blinked innocently as she fell into a long-winded explanation and complaint about how rude he was.

((Did you really think that they'd leave you once you did all that once?)) replied Dark, having woken up by the Sister's screams.

The redhead was no longer paying attention while she continued to rant, only noting what he would have to do. The list of housekeeping jobs were endless and some of them seemed a bit more ridiculous than most.

(('Talk to the cat for twenty minutes after dinner'?)) repeated his alter ego in a skeptical voice, ((First, why do they have a cat here? And second, who the hell wants to talk to a fur-ball like that?))

(Uh...)

Once the Sister had finally run out of breath so she couldn't say anything, Daisuke nodded in understanding before practically bolting off so that she couldn't open her mouth again. He shook his head as the list ran around through his head, at the same time wondering exactly what they expected from him.

"They could always hire a maid, servants, anyone" he muttered under his breath, "We have more than enough money with Dad's job and all... so why me? I didn't need the servants, but now..."

((They just want you to suffer, Daisuke, can't you see?)) Dark cut in with an annoyed tone of voice, ((Isn't that kinda obvious?))

"..." Daisuke shook his head, "Well, I'll just have to make sure that I don't suffer then."

((What? Not run away? You're mad.))

(Maybe...)

The redhead could only smile at Dark's warnings before beginning his set tasks.

_(Do I really act like that?)_

_((No. At least, not that weak minded, I'll say that much.))_

_(I don't think I want to ask what the second meaning to that reply was.)_

_((Then don't.))_

_((... Am I that big of a jerk?))_

_(... Do I have to tell the truth?)_

_((Yes.))_

_(At times... but still... you're a part of me.)_

_((I guess that's some form of consolation. Well, I'll just take a nap for a while.))_

_(Dark...)_

---

The moon could be seen clearly that night, as Dark made his way through the quiet streets, lost in his own thoughts. Daisuke was asleep already, since all the tasks he'd been forced to do obviously tired the young boy out.

At this the Thief seethed with anger at the people's disrespect to his host, who was probably the most trusting and kind person he had ever known. In his rage, he kicked a can that was in his way. It clattered against stone pavement noisily and he couldn't help but sigh. Even just thinking about the dress they had forced him to wear...

Dark stopped as his sharp eyes caught sight of someone leaning against a lamppost. His rage fading for a moment and his curiosity aroused, the Thief made his way towards the person.

"Oi!" he called, glad that he was wearing something appropriate and that Daisuke had managed to save a good number of his normal clothes.

The person that had been sitting there turned in his direction in acknowledgement, but didn't yell back. Despite the fact that Dark knew that it was dangerous to talk to strangers, especially at night, his curiosity was stronger than his safety and Daisuke was asleep, so he couldn't yell at him.

When Dark reached the lamppost, he noticed that the person had unnatural golden eyes comment: like having purple eyes isn't unnatural? and long blonde hair, which was tied up into a ponytail. The person was also a male.

"I haven't seen you around," commented the Thief, keeping a good distance between them, "New here?"

"Perhaps," replied the blonde, looking bored, "But I don't believe we're met."

"Hmph, you're a cold one. I'm Dark."

"Krad."

"Krad?" repeated Dark, "Hey, I like that name!"

"Hmph."

It was only then that the Thief noticed that Krad was wearing white robes with strange trimmings on the seams and he frowned. His other senses kicked in and he spun around.

"I should go now."

Without hesitation, Dark started off at a fast sprint, to cover as much distance between himself and the blonde. The power he had felt was particularly disturbing and he decided better than to tell Daisuke.

The little redhead didn't need to know, anyway.

_(Well, it looks like we found Krad... right?)_

_((Does it make much of a difference? At least he didn't blow my head off or yours... yet. You can't trust someone like him.))_

_(I guess... I wonder if Hiwatari-kun is okay?)_

_((I don't care, okay?))_

_(Hm...)_

-End Stage 4-

Akane inclined her head as Celes waited patiently for her comment. After a few moments of thought, she jumped up.

"So you're saying that Dark said that this is all because someone wants us to change the story," she finally blurted out, "I have to say that that sounds a bit off the mark and definitely not like Dark, so I guess that's our only clue on this. By the way... how's your research going?"

"Not very well," replied the Priestess softly.

"Ah well..." she sighed, "Now that Krad's in the picture, all we have to find is Hiwatari-kun."

"Would he not be with Krad?"

"I don't know. That's what we're trying to find out."

"_Yo."_

"Yes, Dark?"

"_Anything to tell us?"_

"Well, only your clue," replied Akane, "so we'll try and work on it. Just... take care, okay? We'll get you out of there as soon as possible."

There was a loud sigh, _"Whatever."_

Once he was gone, Celes suggested softly, "But perhaps they cannot leave until the tale is done?"

"I was thinking that too," Akane frowned, "If that's the case, then we'll just have to tell them that. Dark won't be happy, though."

"I know..."

---- Now that Krad's in the picture, where's Satoshi? Let's keep going, shall we? ----

This took just WAY too long to do this. I'm punishing myself for my laziness and whatever else that delayed me to do this. I apologise to my readers for that and I hope that you like this chapter... at least a bit, anyway...

Is it just me or is this slowly getting longer? ... Must be me. :)

-- Reviewer talkback:

-Hakudoshi-chan: I think I made it confusing on purpose. Acutally, I'm confused myself. It can from nowhere and is bound to end nowhere. Ah well... that's life, isn't it?

-Staryday: Thank you! I guess... everything's in a muddle. My head isn't working right, and, well... I'm lost, really lost, and there's no way out! Help me! ... I'll be fine in the end, but I've really gotta stop doing this...

-Rinkufan: I know, the comments don't stand out, and it's really annoying. Anywho... about the asterisks and stuff, I don't think supports them... ? Might be me though, you never know. Thanks for the nice comments, though!

And, uh... about what time frame these people are in? hits head against the wall. Hard I have no idea anymore. They're like in the past-present or something really messed up, since I don't do my homework and I'm too lazy, so forgive me for my really lazy attitude on the info for whatever time frame they're in. My head hurts now... maybe I should put a TV in it as well! ... Okay, maybe not, unless you want one there. Oh, wait... argh, never mind.

Well, I guess we'll be waiting for a while till the next one is up, right?

8/10/04 - Wow wow wow! Guess what? It's my birthday! Happy birthday Seena58! &runs around happily& ... Sorry, just a bit high. Heheh. Well, let's see what happens next! Soon, eventually...


	6. Stage 5: Who's a What Now?

FOREWORD: Oh please… why am I doing this? The pain and the suffering and the horror of knowing I'm bound to be doing this for the next few years…

NOTES: The first and last bits are in some void or another, where Akane and Celes comment on the story. So if you don't wanna read it, you don't have to, since it won't affect anything.

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own DNAngel, nor Cinderella, 'cause if I did, then they'd all be blowing up monsters or something. I'm going to do that soon, eventually. Whatever.

IN THE LAST STAGE: We see Krad, Daisuke was wearing a dress, and still no Satoshi. Wow, guess what?

…

…

…

…

…

… Something happens! Yeah right, read on.

Other:

(--) Daisuke

((--)) Dark

--- a time space and switching over to different places and characters.

&comment& my own rambling opinions. If it annoys you, then just don't read it. Okay, there won't be as many, since I'm getting confused myself.

_Italics_ are used when Dark and Daisuke – and now Krad and Satoshi - are talking outside the lines of the story. So it shouldn't be too confusing to work out what's going on, hopefully… If you do get confused, just tell me and I'll fix it up.

:--: Satoshi thoughts

::--:: Krad's thoughts

COMMENTS: Took me forever, and I'm not happy about this either. Who is? Ugh…

* * *

Stage 5: Who's a What Now?

* * *

Akane paced the room in annoyance, "Nothing, just nothing about this makes any sense!"

"Akane, calm down now."

"Dark and Daisuke need to get out of there as soon as possible, and we can't even help them!"

"…"

"There has to be a way…" Akane collapsed out of fatigue and onto the floor of the void, curling up into a ball, "We have to get them out of there before it's too late… before something happens to all of them…" she closed her eyes.

Celes frowned. "Akane…"

-Begin Stage 5-

It was raining. It had been raining for the past week now, and nothing about it was joyful to the redhead, since that meant mud and water everywhere, and more cleaning for him to do. The only times he had rest was when they were out of the house or sleeping, but it wasn't enough time for Daisuke to recover from the traumatising days he had to face each morning.

This morning, however, was different.

Due to some weird meeting, the rest of the family had to leave the house to attend it – the stepmother because she was a part of the meeting. The stepsisters were going because they thought it was sophisticated to listen to people yak on about how bad the economy was and that fat people were taking over the world. &Comment: Oo&

They had, of course, told the redhead that he wasn't allowed to go – and, as Dark asked, why the hell would they want to? – and that he had a large list of things he had to do that would take up the whole day to complete, when they got back.

He was done in half an hour.

It wasn't surprising, since Dark was around to help, and it didn't get boring, but now he had nothing to do, he decided to sit in his room and pull out his old paintings and look at them. They had been put into hiding since the time the stepfamily moved in and that was because they would have most likely sold it for more money if they'd had the chance.

"Kyu?" With popped out from the folds of the blankets, blinking at his owner and master. "Kyu kyu kyu?"

"It's okay to come out now, With," Daisuke reassured him. "They'll be gone for another…" he took a look at the clock that sat on his desk, "Another eight and a half hours."

"Kyu!" the bunny-like creature hopped onto his head happily. The said creature had been in hiding since the time the people had moved in – otherwise they would have sold With – and it wasn't that much fun either, as a matter of fact. But now that they were out for the day, they could actually do something that didn't involve cleaning up after someone else they didn't even want to clean up after. It was a sad time for the two – well, Dark was there as well – so the brief day of doing nothing was as good as anything else they could have done.

((So what do you plan to do today?)) asked Dark lazily in the back to the redhead's mind, ((I mean, it's still raining, so going outside for a walk is out of the question, and it's as boring as hell in here… let's go steal something.))

(You're always stealing something and that would involve going out and getting wet!) replied Daisuke.

((Then I'll steal stuff under an umbrella!)) retorted the Phantom Thief.

(… No thanks,) muttered Daisuke. (…)

Silence filled the room, only broken by With's bouncing and kyu-ing at regular intervals. It was somewhat awkward, since Dark was still awake and all, and that meant he was usually making some comment or other, except… well, it was obvious that he wasn't. Finally the redhead decided to break the silence.

"Are you okay, Dark?"

((-snort- What?)) by the sounds of it, Dark had begun to nod off to sleep, but it looked like the peace hadn't lasted. Returning to reality - or as much of a reality that it could be – he huffed, ((What the hell are you going on about now, Dai-chan? I'm ALWAYS okay.))

"Oh… okay," Daisuke tried to act like it really didn't matter whether his alter ego was fine or not. He really didn't need to ask, since he already knew that Dark wasn't completely okay. Something had been disturbing Dark for the last week or so, and the redhead didn't know where to pinpoint it exactly, since he couldn't read the Thief's head… exactly. It only worked that way when Dark was up front and in control, and he wasn't going to risk it, since he was so… reckless when he was free. It scared the redhead a bit.

Having changed out of the stupid potato sack that was the dress that the stepfamily made him wear ages ago, Daisuke really wasn't focused on much; as long as it didn't involve housework for a while, nothing was better than something. With was bouncing on his head and it was about the most entertaining thing in the world for the boy – Dark thought otherwise and was now snoring loudly in the back of the redhead's mind.

Clean, clean, clean… way too clean…

Daisuke sweat dropped when he noticed what had happened to the rooms that had become the stepsister's rooms. It was like taboo now, he remembered, and he could see why – it was a mess beyond comparison; like a nuclear bomb had hit the room with no escapes and had blown it off to oblivion. Where they slept, he had no idea and wasn't about to try the options.

Now that he thought about it, the house was a bit big, wasn't it? How rich had his father been, he had absolutely no idea, since he was closer to his mother who was there all the time. Not to mention she taught him how to do all the chores which had been fine when he'd been living by himself – and he was HAPPY then as well – but now that others were living in it… the reality hurt. Really, really hurt.

Almost as painful as he hit his head against the wall, which was as solid as it was ever going to be. Sighing, he rubbed his forehead, which was now throbbing, and looked out the window, although the thick sheet of rain only allowed a partial outline of the buildings around him. At least they didn't have a proper garden, having withered upon the approach of the stepfamily.

Maybe he should consider running away, like Dark had said…

But to where?

_(Dark… this is starting to confuse me.)_

_((Only now? I've been confused since the start!))_

_(…)_

"_Kyu kyu kyu!"_

_(GAH. WITH?!)_

_((Hey, what do you know, he is with us! Hahahaha… lame joke…))_

_(That was a joke?)_

_((No, just thought I'd say it.))_

_(…)_

_With changes into Daisuke. "Kyu! Daisuki!"_

_(WITH!!!!! Can't you even pronounce my name properly?!)_

_((Something tells me that's never going to happen. Unless it's his way to show affection to you… and to strawberries…))_

_(…)_

"_DaisuKI!!!!! Kyu!"_

---

Meanwhile…

A giant dilapidated castle was sitting on a giant hill, surrounded by the houses – and shacks, and outhouses, and garden houses &Comment: meaning houses that used fences as the walls :P& - and watched over them. Well, as well as they could, since said building was falling gradually by every little piece of stone present. It was fun, actually, watching such a 'wonderful' building – ruled by a tyrant – collapsing under something as simple as the rain.

One evil and very persistent rain, the king of such a building had decided. It was the third time the castle had found itself in mortal peril. And by a storm, nevertheless. Oh, the tragedy and humility of it all…

But the worst part for sure was the number of letter complaints he received about one thief who stole from the rich, the poor, and the priceless. It was a bit hilarious, but since so many complaints were given almost every week – if not day – he was wondering how he was supposed to handle such a thing.

So he had called one guy who was supposed to be an expert on such a delicate topic. As delicate as a topic could be for a crumbling castle, anyway.

The little stick of a man who was his whosisname… well, some guy who worked for him, came up and polished off the monocle he wore and coughed importantly; which included hacking and coming close to a coughing fit. The king turned around, rubbing his eyes away from the rain that threatened them all.

"Your majesty, he has finally decided to arrive."

"What do you mean by 'decided'? He's a…" he looked at a soaked calendar that was pinned up close by, "Week late."

"Yes, exactly, but since you do not have power over him, he said that he was observing the layout of one said thief…"

"I see… let him in then."

For a room, it was murky, with candles and the such, and no one knew what time space it was anymore. What a pity.

Sitting on the old creaky chair that served as a throne, the king watched as the doors opened, hit the wall, and fell off its hinges, and a man with blonde hair entered the room. Well, his dress sense was better than those at the castle, and that was all that matter.

The blonde bowed.

The king blinked, wondering how he was supposed to speak to such a man, who was so scary…

But not as scary as him.

Not to mention his son was supposed to come home sooner or later, which reminded him… where the hell was he?!

One could only wonder.

_::What the HELL am I doing here? Someone's going to die tonight…::_

---

Daisuke had given in and allowed Dark to take over his body but not to take it outside the house. Why? Well, it was simple that knowing the Thief, he would be out longer than one would have wanted.

Now, why was it that Dark was taking over when he was asleep before? Well, it was a lot simpler than most other reasons which involved thinking about the one they loved and all that usual stuff; so that meant Dark was in control but still looked like Daisuke, but no one cared… to a certain extent.

Again, back to the question: well, Daisuke was having a fun time looking over his painting, while Dark was snoring, and they were both rudely interrupted when the Thief apparently had a nightmare. It went as follows…

((GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!))

(What the--?! DARK!!)

((Where are they, where are they?!)) Dark searches the depth of Daisuke's mind in a blind panic. Once everything is in the clear, he calms down, while Daisuke is rubbing his throbbing eardrums. ((Not here… phew.))

(What are you talking about now, Dark? And what was with all that screaming?)

((Just… it's nothing… just keep the carrots-wearing-jumpsuits-and-holding-guns-away-from-me…))

(…)

Of course, Dark wouldn't stop the chant until Daisuke allowed him to take over and check on the vegetables in case they were wearing clothes and holding weapons of mass destruction. And once that was okay, the redhead decided that he might as well let Dark wander around since there was no point of having the Thief going back to sleep and have another nightmare about vegetables.

And so Dark recovered somewhat from the scary experience, but the redhead wasn't that forgiving; not that he could do anything about it anyway. Of course the Thief was getting bored as well, and he wanted no more than to annoy his host by actually going outside. The only drawback to this plan was that he couldn't block said host's voice, which would most likely be screaming in his ear, worse than what he had done with the carrot dream. It had been one scary dream, and why he was dreaming of such a thing in the first place, he had absolutely no idea, which was really annoying him.

And then there was that scary blonde guy. Krad. He really had liked that name, but the sort of person the blonde was Dark really didn't want to know. Why? He knew that the blonde possessed powers – magic – and that it was fairly uncommon for people to have such abilities; unless they were over a couple of hundred years old. This was all because Dark himself had the powers, and it was confusing to work out. Did it mean that Krad was that old as well? But why was he here then?

So confusing… and he didn't want to worry Daisuke just yet. Let the redhead be oblivious to the fact until it was too late, that was his motto. Besides, the Thief wasn't going to allow anyone to hurt him.

The sound of the doorbell/doorknocker snapped him out of his thoughts and he fell off the balcony edge with a loud thud. Luckily for him he had fallen on the balcony and not off the into the backyard, where the rain and mud was.

((Who the hell could that be?)) he rubbed his back as he got up.

(I don't know. We weren't expecting visitors or anything…) Daisuke lapsed in silence. (Should I take over? In case…)

((Nah, I'm sure I can handle this,)) replied Dark. ((Because if it's a door-to-door salesman, you won't be able to handle it. Don't worry.))

Daisuke couldn't help BUT worry, so he watched in silence, hoping that Dark wouldn't do anything stupid, otherwise… the thought was pretty unbearable. Like the time With said some really stupid things in front of his friends in Daisuke's form. So embarrassing…

Not to mention that the rain was coming down harder and harder, threatening to flood the whole town out.

Dark, as Daisuke, opened the door.

_(? Carrots?)_

_((I have absolutely NO idea what was going on there… how dare they think the Great Dark Mousy would be scared of a couple of carrots!))_

_(Dark… they can't hear you…)_

_((Argh… why can't we just go back and leave this hell hole?!))_

_(We don't know yet… and who's at the door? I don't like the sounds of this, Dark…)_

"_Daisuki! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu!"_

_(Wi-th…)_

_((Aw… but he looks so cute, as you, saying that…))_

_(Dark…)_

_((… -muttering- stupid carrots…))_

_(You say something?)_

_((No.))_

_(Hm…)_

---

Through the thick sheet of rain, a single – flying – figure approached the large house-like-shack-cross-of-mansion and landed on the balcony edge. This left a trail of water everywhere and the person frowned.

"Now where am I…"

There was a moment of silence as the person mused over where they could be before giving up and pulling their very high – light purple - ponytail in annoyance. Yes, this person was a girl, in case you were wondering.

"How am I supposed to find anything in this mess of a house, the rain and the stupid thing with people against other races…" she complained to herself, "SO WHAT IF I HAVE WINGS?!"

---

Dark inclined his head and frowned for a moment, as if trying to catch something he might have missed before. ((Hey… did you hear something?))

(Eh?) Daisuke blinked in the corner of his mind. (I didn't hear anything… I don't think… was someone yelling?)

((That's what I thought. Oh well, probably the imagination.)) Dark – in Daisuke form - opened the door to reveal two people drenched in the rain, due to the fact that their umbrella was in no condition to protect them from such a force of… rain. The Thief had to bite his lip from laughing out loud, while the real Daisuke was feeling sorry for them, being the person he was.

"Can I help you?" asked Dark, unable to help but smirk at the two. A middle-aged man wearing a black suit and clearly saturated stepped up. He was balding as well, he noted.

"Is that how you speak to those superior to you--" he started in a loud proclamation-type voice, but was cut short by the other one, who was a boy Daisuke's age with azure coloured hair.

((Bizarre,)) noted Dark in the back of his mind, ((Don't you agree?))

(No more then you with violet hair and me red hair,) replied Daisuke, (Do they want to come in or something.)

"Please ignore him, he's just feeling unwell," the blue-haired boy said, bowing slightly, "I was wondering if we could stay for a little while until the rain stops."

(I knew it.)

((What should I tell them? No?))

(Dark! That would be uncourteous! Let them in.)

"Sure," Dark opened the door wider, and watched in amusement as the bald-man's eyebrow twitched.

(… You're not very polite. You know that, don't you?)

((But it's so much fun! Annoying people, anyway,)) protested the Thief with false-dignity. ((You can't boss me around, you know!))

(I know, Dark, I know…) Daisuke groaned, getting the uneasy air that chaos was soon to come for sure. And since Dark didn't want him to take over again, it was going to be really bad…

Both people entered the house and got rid of their saturated coats and were then led to the living room. This left water on the floor, but Dark thought Daisuke would be able to handle it. Besides, when the 'family' came back, it was bound to be worse. Once they were seated… well, they just sat there.

(Shouldn't we offer them something?) asked the redhead.

((Only if you want me to burn the kitchen down,)) retorted the Thief.

It looked like balding man was thinking the same thing.

"Have you no manner? Are you not going to offer something to your guests?" he demanded. Dark decided to give him the same answer, but with a little addition to the 'guest' part.

"First off, you aren't guests, and I don't know why I allowed you entrance since I don't even know you and you just wanted out of the rain," he snorted a bit, "And if you want me to burn the whole place down, then go ahead. The kitchen's down that hall and it isn't hard to miss, so if you want something, get it yourself, and don't try taking anything, 'cause I'll know it's gone."

(DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRKKKK!!!!!!!!!!) screamed Daisuke in horror. (How COULD you?!)

The bald man twitched visibly this time, and was about to yell – or something – but the blue-haired boy stopped him. "Not now, Walter. Go and make something."

Fuming, the man bowed and scuttled off, but not before giving Dark a hated glare. Dark stuck his tongue out in reply. Meanwhile, Daisuke was sobbing in the background.

(My reputation's ruined, my reputation's ruined…)

((What the hell are you going on about?))

(If they know the… stepfamily… oh no…)

((I can handle them. Don't worry.))

"So this is the Niwa residence, correct?" the question made Dark turn to face the boy suspiciously.

"And if it is?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," the blue-haired boy gave an unreadable smirk, "So you must be Niwa Daisuke, the only son…"

"That's right," Dark had one eyebrow raised while Daisuke had given up wailing and was also listening, "How do you know so much about it? Hm?"

"Oh, I've been around and heard things," the blue-haired boy held out a hand, "I'm Satoshi. Nice to meet you."

"I'm assuming I'm supposed to say the same thing," reluctantly, Dark shook his hand, but spoke to the redhead all the while, ((Dai-chan! He's creepy! I don't like him!)) "What are you doing around here anyway?"

"I live here."

"Oh really? Haven't seen you around."

"I have reasons for that."

"Hmph."

"Sir," Baldie was back, "The rain has ceased. We should be going now."

"Very well," Satoshi got up, "It was nice to talk to you, Niwa… kun."

Dark blinked, as the two left the living room. ((Dai-chan, you deal with it.))

(Huh? Uh, what?) once again Daisuke was in control and he stumbled behind, "Uhm, Satoshi-san?"

The blue-haired boy turned and looked vaguely surprised, "Is something wrong?"

The redhead blushed and looked at the floor, "Sorry about my… uh… actions. I haven't been feeling well…"

Baldie was still glaring at him but Satoshi merely smiled, "You don't need to apologise. Maybe I'll see you around sometime."

Daisuke watched as they left in what looked like a large carriage… and that got him thinking, (Who was he?)

((That's what I was wondering.))

(I know I haven't met him so…)

((Maybe he is a creep! Creepy Boy!))

(Dark…) with a sigh, Daisuke closed the door.

_(Hiwatari-kun? Well… at least we found him.)_

_((So what's the high and mighty Commander doing?))_

_(I have no idea… I hope we can get out soon now…)_

_((Same. I still need to beat Krad up. -snorts- As if I'd ever be scared of him!))_

_(I know, Dark, I know…)_

…

_:Where am I… and what is Niwa doing here?:_

---

Wandering around the large house was rather entertaining, she decided, as she crept down the hallways. And man, was it as empty as someone's deathbed. But maybe they had something valuable she could take, except… she didn't know whether the residents were good guys or not. And that was the main idea.

Opening a door to a clean-ish looking bedroom, she peeked in and smiled.

How… interesting…

-End Stage 5-

Akane was currently in a half-daze, but the information was all there. "So now that we've found all of them… now what?"

"We have to wait and see, Akane," replied Celes, "We have to wait and see…"

"That's what you always say."

Celes mumbled something and turned away, and Akane frowned, not trusting the Priestess, or at least suspecting her.

'What do you know that we don't?'

---- What is going on? Why do any of us care? Who is the strange person who has entered the house and complained about wings? Do we want to know who she is? Well, Dark's gonna confront her in the next stage, so until next time! ----

So I finally managed to get this done. Good job –claps hands sarcastically-. Seriously, laziness is part of my life, and it bugs me. I know this chapter was weird and all, but that was the main idea… I think. The style's changed, but I hope everyone who reads this won't puke or run of or complain, because I have a lot on my mind, even if there is no school. Weird, huh? I thought that with holidays, I would be able to work on these things more, but I guess I was wrong. Please accept my deepest apologies and keep reading and if you think I'm taking too long to update, you can bug me. I don't know how well it will work, but I just might force me to try harder, okay?

And about those carrots… well, me and my friend write conversations during Maths classes, and we were going on about weapons of mass destruction, and putting cyanide in the teacher's food, and, for some reason, we began talking about potatoes and stuff with the weapons. Watch out… the mind can be a scary thing at times…

And with the buildings with fences… if you've played The Sims then you know that making your own house is the most fun to do… unless you want to kill the people off, which is as entertaining as anything else that could happen. :D I just ended up making a homeless guy who lived with fences as walls and an outhouse, where all the guests went to ring the doorbell. It was rather hilarious.

Thank you for your support. –bows and hands everyone Christmas presents and cookies- Late Christmas presents and everyone a happy New Year!!

-- Reviewer talkback:

-Hakudoshi-chan: Hey, we all have a part in this story, and Krad's one is yet to be properly revealed. Yay Krad. :) Well, he's just confused with what's going on, but he'll come to his senses soon, I hope.

-Staryday: I hate dresses, dresses are evil. I only wear one at school 'cause that's the uniform. :( Ah well, we can't all be funny, no matter what. I didn't consider them talking out of the story, but now they can. Not to mention Sato and Krad are separate. What could happen? CHAOS!

-SpinningAvia: It's really thanks to you that I actually got myself into this story again, so thank you. -bows and hands a present- Well the italics show them talking out of the story, but they can't control their... fantasy selves sadly. But I'm now considering some more interesting ideas... hm... very interesting... -smirks evilly.-


	7. Stage 6: More then just a Fairytale

FOREWORD: I think the people who read this may think I'm a loony, but I'm a very HAPPY loony. Now, that's all I can really say.

NOTES: The first and last bits are in some void or another, where Akane and Celes comment on the story. So if you don't wanna read it, you don't have to, since it won't affect anything.

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own DNAngel, nor Cinderella, 'cause if I did, then they'd all be blowing up monsters or something. I'm going to do that soon, eventually. Whatever.

IN THE LAST STAGE: Evil carrots and evil rain… oh, and Krad and Satoshi come into the picture. … uh, yeah, that's about it. Read on, if you dare…

Other:

(-) Daisuke

((-)) Dark

- a time space and switching over to different places and characters.

my own rambling opinions. If it annoys you, then just don't read it. Okay, there won't be as many, since I'm getting confused myself.

_Italics_ are used when Dark and Daisuke – and now Krad and Satoshi - are talking outside the lines of the story. So it shouldn't be too confusing to work out what's going on, hopefully… If you do get confused, just tell me and I'll fix it up.

: Satoshi thoughts

: Krad's thoughts

COMMENTS: What CAN I say? Shoot me? (19/02/05) Oh, and I'm not in a good mood today. Don't know why though...

* * *

Stage 6: More then just a Fairytale…

* * *

"I say we do a spell that allows into that world. What do you think?" 

"No, that will never work."

"You always say that it never works. How do you know?"

"I just do."

"… RIGHT…"

"Are you trying to be sarcastic?"

"Was it that obvious?"

"…"

The silence was more than anyone in the void could take, but there really wasn't any way of them to help the others.

-Begin Stage 6-

When he looked back at the room, he noticed that it was now full of wet footprints and such and he sighed.

((What, I thought you would have been used to it by now.))

(There are some things in life that you never get used to, Dark,) explained Daisuke, (And this is one of them. The other is wearing a dress and living here with the stepfamily in the first place.)

((And that's why I told you to run away. Duh!))

"Kyu!"

The redhead looked up, "Is something the matter With?"

"Kyu! Kyu! Kyu! Kyu!"

((I think he's hungry.))

"Kyu!"

(I think you're right.) Daisuke smiled slightly and took the rabbit-thingy into the kitchen/dining area where he then dug out something for them to eat. Besides, it would still be a couple of hours until the rest of the family returned home so they might as well do something like relax for a while.

((Hey, you know what? That guy was WEIRD.)) Dark decided to point out to start a conversation – any conversation would do at this point.

(Which guy?) came the suspicious question.

((Oh, they were both weird, but the one with the glasses and the creepy look was weirder!))

(Dark, you shouldn't be so rude about another person, and besides, it was your fault for saying such stupid things.)

((Hey! I never say stupid things!))

(How about the carrots?)

((You leave that out of it.))

(Are you sure you don't have a mental problem? I think the stealing and over-inflated ego has made your brain disappear.)

((How could you say that about ME! You're the one wearing a dress!))

(And I was forced into that in the first place! No one forced you to dream about carrots!)

((That's what you think…))

(That's your excuse for everything, Dark.)

((That's it. I'm taking a vow of silence until you apologise!))

Daisuke fell silent, rather than replying, wondering how long it would be until Dark got tired of being silent and began to talk again. Finishing his food and leaving With in the dining area, the redhead got up and tramped back into the hallway where the water was.

"And now to clean this up…"

_(…)_

_((…))_

_(…)_

_((Hey, if we go to sleep, will we fall on the floor while the story continues?))_

_(I don't want to think about that.)_

_((Come on. It won't hurt anyone.))_

_(Except me.)_

_((Don't be such a spoilsport, Daisuke. You know it'll be fun to watch.))_

_(What, me falling on the ground like I'm having a fit or something?)_

_((Yeah! That's exactly the point!))_

_(Dark, do you even know what sarcasm is?)_

_((…))_

-

The girl mused over the room, sneaking around and opening draws out of curiosity. There wasn't much to see, but she had a feeling that something would pop out to her sooner or later, and she could take it, blah blah blah. She sweat dropped at the thought – her life really was weird; and not just because people thought of her as weird because of her wings. Oh well, life was life.

She pushed some clothes out of the way and continued to search through… whatever she was searching through. At least the rain was ceasing out of existence. She was too wet for her own good and she didn't even have an umbrella.

Straining her hair to get it as dry as possible, the girl continued to look around. When she couldn't find anything of use – save some really nice pictures, but she couldn't carry those around – she was about to give up on the search until she practically tripped over some sort of special storage that she hadn't noticed before. Curiously, she opened it.

"… Wowie…"

-

((Can I take over now?))

(No.)

((Pretty pleaaaaase!))

(Dark, do you have to continuously whine about these kind of things?)

((Because I'm Dark and you're not?))

Daisuke raised an eyebrow at the answer and shrugged. "But you were already out just a few minutes ago? Why now?"

((Because,)) drawled out Dark, already aware that he was winning the argument, ((You don't trust me to take over your body when you're asleep and I never get any control during the day since you can't trust me to what I say to those old ugly hags, and then I get really bored and begin to sing off-key in your head and then you get a headache and then you can't do you're work and then you get in trouble-))

(Okay already! I get the picture!) Daisuke yelled desperately, knowing that Dark was capable of holding a reason that went on for hours, and hours, and hours, and hours, and hours… (Just don't do anything stupid this time, PLEASE!)

((Hey, I'm the only one in this house, unless you count With. Okay, don't count him. It's a party of one now.)) Dark smirking winningly as he took over happily. The redhead was just too kind to him, and he was the one who started the trouble in the first place.

Unless you counted the time when With was pretending to be Daisuke for a while and had said some of the stupidest things around… they had been forced into licking themselves in the house for a week.

Since all the chores were done – yes, Daisuke had managed to make dinner or something during that time as well – the Phantom Thief found himself bored to the core and staring at the walls as he passed down and up corridors to reached the redhead's room. And that was situated on the highest floor – since Daisuke liked it like that, and so did Dark – and the stepmother couldn't make them move since there was a padlock on the door that only the two could open; key or not.

As he passed by the stepsister's bedrooms, he was wondering if trashing it would make any difference to what they looked like now, but wasn't able to come to a conclusion since he practically ran into someone else who had been running down the stairs.

"Hey, watch it!" she shrieked in surprise. Having recovered quickly – and Daisuke was wondering what was going on now and hadn't recovered yet – Dark grabbed her by the scruff of her shirt collar. "What do you think you're doing! That's no way to treat a lady, you know!"

"And what do you think your doing in here anyway?" he asked back, not letting go but leaving enough space so she could continue breathing. She glared at him and tried to get away, but that only meant that she got choked so she stopped trying and pouted.

"Why should I tell you?" she asked.

"Because I live here."

"Well, it's none of your business."

Dark sighed and tried a different tactic, "So, what's your name then?"

"Me? I'm Patty. Who are you then?" she asked as politely as she could, obviously hoping that he would drop his guard soon.

"Dark."

"Man, what a stupid name to have… hey, that sounds familiar to me though…" she began to think it over and he let go of her collar, waiting to see what would happen. As soon as she saw that he didn't have a hold of her, Patty bolted.

"I'm not staying around here!"

"Sure, see if I care," muttered Dark coolly, holding up something, "since I already got back what you took."

She stopped and felt her pockets and then scowled at Dark, forgetting that she was supposed to run away, whether or not she had the jewel thingy she'd taken from Daisuke's room. "How'd the hell did you know?"

"Well, if you want my full title, I'm the Great Phantom Thief Dark Mousy," he smirked as he watched her face changed from surprised to doubtful, and then to something similar to pure admiration.

"I've heard all about you, you know!" she exclaimed, her attitude changed completely. "You're, like, the best thief around! But I bet I can do better than you…" she smiled sweetly, "I'm a phantom thief too, you know, except I don't just steal pretty pieces of artwork to get people's attention."

"Hey, is that an insult to my standards!" demanded Dark.

Patty shrugged, "I can't say that much, really, but since I just steal from the rich and greedy people and all, let's just say I'm a different sort of thief…"

"And you're so good that you fail to notice people in the house," he scoffed lightly, "And are you saying that this family is greedy now?" ((I mean, I know the ugly stepsisters and stepmother is, but the rest of us…))

"Well, I don't really know," she fell back into thought as Dark replaced the stolen item into his pocket. "Guess it was just my woman's intuition. I mean, I have a feeling that the majority of the people who live here are as greedy as most, so yeah. That's all I can say."

"Well, close enough."

"So, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, getting away from the rain, for one thing," she began, "And to see what I could get from here, you know?"

"… Right…" he nodded, still trying to understand, ((She's… weird.))

(I would have to say that the two of you have quite a lot in common,) commented Daisuke lightly, finally deciding to talk rather than just sit there like he didn't exist, (And why do you steal things anyway? Is it only to get attention?)

((Hey, are you questioning what I do now?)) Dark demanded.

(Well, yeah.)

((… I don't need to answer that question. I steal stuff and the world knows it, that's all that matters.))

(Right, Dark, right…)

((Come on, give me a break already. We've been fine living together for this long, so why question my existence now? And my standards in life. I'M the one who doesn't even have a proper body anymore, you know.))

(Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can abuse it and do things that might end up putting us in jail.)

((Hey, I'm a thief. I can't be put into jail!))

(Um… that's the whole point the police are after you. Because you ARE a thief. And that's classified as 'bad', you know.)

((Dammit, Dai-chan, stop trying to confuse me.))

"Oi, Mr. Phantom Thief dude," Patty waved a hand over his face, "HELLO? CAN. YOU. HEAR. ME?" she got no response and she pouted, hands on hips for effect, "NOW what's going on?"

Because Dark was arguing with the someone within, the young girl – okay, she was about thirteen, but that was still young – was considering if she should just leave or steal what Dark had taken back and THEN leave, but was interrupted when a white bunny thing bounced down the hallway happily, making strange sounds. She stared at it.

"Wait… is that…" she spluttered, pointing at the steadily approaching bunny, "What is that… I mean… a… a…"

(No. what I'm trying to say is-) started Daisuke patiently, but Dark never heard the end of that sentence since Patty screamed.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! MONSTER! MONSTER! MONSTER! WHY HERE, OF ALL PLACES!"

_(…)_

_((O… kay… this is now officially insane. Where the hell did that girl come from, anyway?))_

_(I don't know.)_

_((Is this even supposed to happen in the actual story!))_

_(Well, if it was the story, then we wouldn't even be in it, Dark.)_

_((Hey, I'm just trying to get my point across here.))_

_(I know, I know, but this is getting a bit tiring.)_

_((Like I said, why don't you just fall asleep and then see what happens?))_

_(And I said I wasn't going to do that.)_

"_Kyu! Kyu!"_

-

"So I have to find this particular person?" asked the blonde – Krad – as the crumbling of the walls finally came to a halt. For the time being, anyway. "Why is it that you haven't caught him until now… your Highness?"

"Because the security here is… very delicate and… out of date," the King muttered in reply, wondering if he was allowed to swear: he was the KING, after all, so he was allowed to do that kind of stuff… right? He wasn't too sure anymore. "And it would not be such a problem if it wasn't so frequent."

"I see…" Krad looked around at the dank room, "So… do you want me to bring the thief here or… do I dispose of them?"

"… Whatever you think will be best for the people." He was then thinking about how he was going to get the money to repair the castle again. Servants were robbing it from the core out and he really needed that changed… okay, he was slipping away from the subject again. "We will, of course, reward you for your efforts."

"We can speak about that later," he bowed again, not wanting to spend another minute in the room, "I think I should get started soon."

"Very well." The King allowed him to leave and then collapsed back on his seat, still thinking over how to get the money. He could always try another one of those tax things… but the village would probably go haywire again with the whole mob deal, and he didn't want to see that happen.

Again.

…

Man, that was scary, the last time they did that. He really didn't want to get caught in between a mess like that.

It was just… horrible. With the fire and the yelling and the pitchforks and the fire… oh wait, he'd already thought of that.

Just as he was about to get back to the actual subject of thought, someone else entered the room, followed by another, with a look of pure indignation and frustration on their features.

The first one was a maid – of sorts – and the other was none other than the King's youngest child.

"Daddy! She said really mean things about me! I want her fired!" yelled the girl, who was only six years old. The maid – who was much older – shrugged as he raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"I think she was having another nightmare, Your Highness."

"I see…" he frowned and then just waved a hand, "Stop being a nuisance, Terra, you're making too much noise." His daughter pouted at that.

"You shouldn't be so rude!" she yelled back and flounced off. The maid sighed and then followed behind her.

So then the silence was finally renewed, only to be broken by a girl swinging down on a window ledge close by the King's head. "Hey, what's going on now, dad? What was Terra screaming about this time?"

"You don't need to know that," he muttered back, "And how many times have I told you to act more like a princess?"

The girl inclined her head, "But this is the easiest way around the castle, father, and with stairways collapsing again, we need an alternative."

"And that doesn't include swinging around to our doom. Now get down here, Mirei." the girl did as she was told and brushed grime away from her tunic top, which was already dark coloured so it didn't make any difference. "And you may be the next heir to the throne, so please stop endangering your life."

"But daa—d," Mirei whined, "You said that brother was going to take over, not me! I like being the second in command, even if we are practically the same age."

"Only by ten minutes," he muttered, "What would your mother say?"

"'Leave our daughter alone'?"

"Very funny. Anyway, your brother doesn't seem very interested with taking over the throne, so you may be the one forced to take his place."

"Or Terra," she suggested, laughing under her breath.

"Be respectful," her father said, and she fell silent, "Anyway, your brother will soon be coming home, so I was thinking about throwing a party for him."

"Yeah, maybe that will convince him to take the throne," Mirei suggested innocently. "And why are you telling me this, father? Shouldn't you be telling whosisname?"

"Mirei…"

Laughing, the girl jumped out of her father's reach and proceeded on leaving the room. "I'm sure he'll love your consideration, dad!"

"…"

Okay, what was he going to do now?

_:What. The. Hell.:_

…

_:I going to have to kill Dark when I get the chance… this is all his fault.:_

_Silence._

_:He is going to die…:_

-

"Whoa! Chill out! That isn't a monster!" yelled Dark, trying to find a way to pacify the screaming girl, who was now going slightly hysterical, "Okay, With is a kind of strange creature, but he won't hurt you!"

"How the hell am I supposed to know that!" Patty screeched. She was currently holding a chair over her head and threatening With with it, "I know a monster when I see one!"

Dark rubbed the back of his head, confused, "What's with you and monsters? I mean, where did you come from? I haven't seen anyone with bat wings before? Is it a Halloween costume?"

"No, you moron! KYA!" momentarily letting her guard down, Patty was 'attacked' by the bunny, who just ended up sitting on her head 'kyu'-ing happily. The violet-haired boy raised his eyebrows.

"See? He won't hurt you."

"Guh…"

"Anyway, back to what I was saying…"

"Actually, you were spacing out before I started going crazy," she pointed out.

"…"

(She has a point, you know.) Daisuke agreed.

((Quiet, you.))

"Anyway," Dark ploughed on, "do you have any reason to being here now?"

"Eh, I just hate the people I meet, since they make fun of my wings," Patty muttered, "I mean, who cares?"

"I think they're pretty cool, actually," he commented lightly, "Even if you can't get rid of them when you want to."

"So yeah. You seem to be someone reasonable. Can I stay over?"

"WHAT!"

Patty smiled, "Only for a few days. I'm not supposed to be here anyway, so why not?"

Dark frowned at her, "Well, for one thing we have a bunch of really ugly and really stupid ladies living in this house and my host has to wear a dress and he hates that and I don't think they'll like you."

"Host?"

((Can I?))

(What! But why!)

((It's just easier this way.))

"Yeah, host," the boy said, while the redhead inside of him began to scream at him, mainly about jail, "Why don't you think no one have ever caught me? 'Cause I don't even have my own body anymore."

"Oh…" Patty suddenly looked sympathetic, "Sucks to be you, huh?"

"Yep. Anyway, my host is a real nice guy, so I'm sure you two will get along fine. But that still leaves the really ugly old hags…" Just as the words left his mouth, they heard the door unlock and slowly open, "And there're now here. I think you better leave now."

"Hey! I've got an idea!" she yelled, running up the stairs to the only other exit for the time being, "Catch you later!"

Once she was out of sight, Dark sweat dropped. ((She was just… weird.))

(I guess. But what was with the wings?)

((Who knows. Oh well, guess you'll just have to wear a dress again.))

(Ugh…)

"Kyu!"

Once he was finished changing, Daisuke took over and hopped down the stairs to meet the rest of the family, who just ended up ignoring him. Grumbling, they tramped into the living room and stayed there, allowing the redhead more spare time.

It wasn't long before the doorbell rang and the stepmother yelled at him to open the door, which the redhead did. He was surprised to see Patty at the entrance, wearing a cloak.

"Hi."

"Uh… hi," the redhead muttered. Then added in a whisper, "What are you doing here?"

She blinked, "Huh?"

"I'm Dark's host. Daisuke."

"Oh! You're cute!" she said happily, "Anyway, here's what I was planning to do."

"What?"

"SHUT THE DOOR! YOU'RE LETTING ALL THE COLD IN!"

"I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS! WHAT'S GOING ON!"

Ignoring Daisuke's whispered warnings, Patty entered the living room and bowed in front of them, "Hi! I'm the new maid!" This was greeted by silence as everyone in the room stared at her, as if not sure of what they had just heard.

The stepmother was the first to recover. Coughing importantly, she stood up, "I see… so you'll be working here?"

"And living here," she added.

"Right. Payment?"

"None is required."

"Oh, right. You're that one I hired ten years ago. Fine, whatever. Go fix dinner or something. Boy, you go as well."

Once they were in the kitchen, Daisuke stared at her in disbelief, "Where did that come from?"

Patty shrugged, "Seeing as we're both stuck here, we might as well make the most of it, Daisuke."

"Huh?"

_(Wait… what's going on?)_

_((The spell's finally cracked and we can go home?))_

_(I don't know…)_

"_Hey! You! Daisuke!"_

"_Huh! Patty!"_

"_Yup! It's me!"_

"_Wait… why are you here?"_

_((That's what I want to know.))_

"_Like I said, we're stuck here."_

"_You… managed to…"_

"_Yup!"_

_((What the... -omitted due to language-)) _

_(DARK! DON'T SWEAR!)_

"_But where are we?"_

"_Well, it's a long story…"_

-

Back at the crumbling castle a carriage arrived and some people jumped out of it, watching as the castle swayed under the pressure of the blowing winds.

"They really need to do something about this building," one of them muttered.

"But it's still home, sir."

"And it's still falling apart."

Some soldiers caught sight of them as they began to make their way into the building and alerted the King immediately. As people gathered to welcome them back, one of them muttered an excuse and slipped away.

Up, up, up the stairs… so many stairs. How they managed to live through it, he would never really know. Man, it was really painful and now he remembered why he had left in the first place. After a long walk up the winding stairs, he finally reached a door and knocked on it.

"Yes?" came the muffled reply.

He opened the door, "Mirei?"

She looked up at the call of her name and immediately paled when she saw who it was. Leaping off her bed, she began to jump around before hugging him. "You're back! You're back! That means I don't have to take over!

Welcome back, Satoshi!"

_:…:_

-End Stage 6-

"What… what's going on? Why is this happening?" Akane watched the scenarios in disbelief. "This can't be…

"This can't be happening… why is it now…"

Celes looked up, "… Something is happening… something that isn't supposed to happen is happening…"

- Something very weird is going on. What are they going to do about it? What CAN they do? What is Krad planning to do? So many questions, not enough answers. Oh well. -

And there we have it. I really don't know what I'm doing, so yeah. But did you notice that Patty spoke within the confinements of the fairytale world? That does mean something, but I'm not saying anymore. And... yeah, more strange stuff to come, cause that's when the title REALLY gets it's meaning! XD Yup, it's true!

Oh, and I know everyone was acting a bit weird, so don't point it out. So that's all for now!

- Reviewer talkback: (I was doing it and then the stupid interenet got rid of the windows! Now I have to do it again! Sorry!)

-Staryday: Insanity makes my head go 'boom'. Yeah, and the randomness was just that. I think I'm going more and more insane with each passing day. And with Daisuke bangind his head... I can't remember why I did that anymore. Hm... I really can't remember... Anyway, I'll try my best to update again soon but I can't really make that promise. (Stupid school... with PE in the way, I have NO TIME!)

-Hakudoshi-chan: Hm... I'll try my best, shall I?

-SpinningAvia: Yup, you're the reason I kinda continued. I don't hate the story... it's more of a 'thing'... I don't know. Hope you liked this chapter!

-Basiliskwings: Well, I've never been good at pairings anyway, so it won't be that detailed. Yeah, Satoshi's the prince, but there's his twin sister and that younger one as well. Krad's also hanging around and being evil as well. It's bound to mean somehting in the end. (hint hint)

-Kitedragon: Thanks! When you mean the thoughts, you mean my comments, the way I'm writing it with my thoughts in the middle or the character's thoughts themselves? I kinda got tired of writing my own comments, so that's over and done with, so... yeah. Sorry for any confusion. Your ideas might help as well, and I think what I'm going to do with it is going to ruin it in the end anyway. If you can call it that. I've never been that good at humor, but I try. The last speech I did was considered high brow. I wonder what that's supposed to mean...

Anyway, thanks to everyone who read this as well as reviewed! You make me feel so special! Now... what to do next... (cackles evilly.) 


	8. Stage 7: Actions Speak Louder than Words

FOREWORD: I actually managed another chapter? Who would have thought…

NOTES: The first and last bits are in some void or another, where Akane and Celes comment on the story. So if you don't wanna read it, you don't have to, since it won't affect anything.

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own DNAngel, nor Cinderella, 'cause if I did, then they'd all be blowing up monsters or something. This is starting to bore me… bring on the monsters!

IN THE LAST STAGE: Meet Patty, the crazy family is back and Krad is… somewhere. Satoshi's the prince who has a twin and… yeah. That's about it.

Other:

(--) Daisuke

((--)) Dark

a time space and switching over to different places and characters.

&…& my own rambling opinions. I kinda stopped using it anyway…

_Italics_ are used when Dark and Daisuke – and now Krad and Satoshi - are talking outside the lines of the story. So it shouldn't be too confusing to work out what's going on, hopefully… If you do get confused, just tell me and I'll fix it up.

:--: Satoshi thoughts

:--: Krad's thoughts

COMMENTS: Someone tell me why I'm trying so hard.

* * *

Stage 7: Actions Speak Louder than Words (or is it the other way around?

* * *

"What do you mean by that? What's going on?" 

"I do not truly know, but there is a problem with the line of connections."

"Hm…" Akane frowned as she thought it over, wondering what to say next, "Well, is there any way of getting me into it?"

"I doubt it. It is unsafe to try."

"That's what you always say."

"I am only thinking of your safety."

'Sure…'

Begin Stage 7-

That night Patty found herself sleeping in the living room – on the couch since she refused to sleep on the floor – and Daisuke was getting prepared for another night out to steal stuff. Well, in a literal sense it was Dark, but it was still the redhead's original body, so then… it was confusing.

Pulling on the black costume that was too big for his form, the redhead allowed the Phantom Thief to take over. Black feathers were strewn across the sky as Dark took off into the night. His target?

Oh, just a hulking great statue that was located in the castle. Whoopedo and all.

Daisuke had asked how was he supposed to get it home, but after having stolen huge paintings and the like, Dark chose not to answer and the redhead gave up on the questions, seeing as he was getting no answers. But he was still wondering if his alter ego would be capable of carrying something so big. Something in the back of his head told him that someone dragging a huge statue in the middle of the night would be a bit too suspicious, so that was that.

Dark snorted; at least it wasn't raining anymore. He would have had to go through lots of rain that would have been hell, and he didn't like getting wet anyway. Pft.

((So, worried about tonight?)) he asked, just for the sake of conversation.

(When am I not?) retorted the redhead in the back of his mind, fidgeting slightly, (You do know that everything you seem to do attracts trouble.)

((And you attract the weirdos.))

(Who says I do?)

((Oh, you know what I mean,)) he got a snort as a reply before he flew off into the night. There was no exact reason to stealing the big statue thing anyway; he was just bored and wanted out and this was the perfect excuse to it all. Not that he couldn't just take over his host's body, but if the redhead began to scream as such, well, the Thief really couldn't handle it if it was going to end up like that in the end. Daisuke had a really easy time finding ways to convince Dark to do otherwise, and he didn't want to have to hear it. The last thing he could do was either wait for the redhead to sleep or block him out completely, but Daisuke wasn't one to quit, so telling him they were going to steal was the last (and easiest) option around.

So Dark flew over to the dilapidated castle while whistling something tuneless while he did so. There would probably an attempt to stop him, but since he WAS the Great Phantom Thief, they would never succeed and everyone knew it. But even so they tried and it was very amusing, to say the least.

By the time he reached the giant stone building, Daisuke was humming in tune with Dark's tuneless whistling and the Thief told his host to be quiet for a minute.

(You started it.)

((That doesn't mean you can annoy me with it.))

(Actually, I think it does.)

((One of these days…)) Dark turned away from the pointless argument and began to walk around – rather – aimlessly, looking for where the statue could be. He wasn't too worried about them hiding it, but it was just a block of… stone anyway, in the end. He then fell back to wondering if it emitted any sort of life force at all, so that the search could be made easier. For a moment, he stopped to think it over and scan around the place.

Grey stones, grey stones and even more grey stones. Yeah, the people were a bit nuts on the whole stone masonry thing, he decided. Then there were a couple of chairs, a few drapes that were limp with holding so much rain, and then the carpet and many many open windows. Not that they could close it anyway. Dark wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this… he decided to pose the question to the silent Daisuke.

((If you had a chance, would you live here?))

The redhead seemed to jump in surprise at the sudden question, (Eh? Why?)

((Just answer the question.))

(Well, no,) the redhead admitted, (Oh, and you might want to move before the ceiling above you crushes you under the weight.)

Dark shifted in his position and frowned as he watched the floor above become the floor below in a literal sense. While the rest of the stone fell he walked off while the guard who'd been standing on that particular piece was still in a daze, and suffering a few broken bones as well.

((Pft. This castle REALLY needs to be fixed. And maybe some paint would brighten it up as well.)) snorted the Thief. ((god, this is pathetic. Even I didn't think something like this was possible.))

(What are you talking about this time?)

((Never mind…))

Daisuke fell silent at this and Dark continued on his way and it wasn't long before he found whatever he was looking for. Not the prettiest of statues, chipped away and all, practically shattered with age, but it didn't really matter. Not to mention what a waste of time it was trying to post guards around, since they were constantly falling through the floors as such…

((Well, that was just too easy. Looks like we'll be going on our way then,)) the Thief said happily, ((You need your sleep anyway, Daisuke.))

(Wow, I never thought I'd hear that from you…)

((Well, maybe it's 'cause nothing's happening!))

Dark managed to trip on his feet and fell to the floor with a surprised yelp. The redhead within his mind blinked for a moment, not sure with what had just happened.

(I've never seen that before… who would have thought you were capable to falling like that? Amazing…)

((Shut up, you.))

Daisuke lapsed into silent laughter, only to be cut short as the ceiling close by them suddenly collapsed, only to be accompanied by another pained groan from someone he knew instantly. He grabbed the person by the collar and shook them irately. "What are you doing here?"

Patty snorted as she struggled to breath for a moment, "Bugger off already! I do what I want and you can't do anything about it!"

"Actually, I think the case involves as to why you fell when you have wings," Dark stated flatly, giving her a shake, "And what's the point of trying to steal anything here? Nothing's worth anything."

"I know. It's just a way to past the time. And it allows me to stretch my wings, seeing that I can't do it either way," she replied calmly, crossing her arms and blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Man, this is so much fun," the Thief rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Although I can't see you doing anything useful. Especially when it involved falling from collapsing roofs."

At this, Patty bristled, "Are you insulting me!"

Any other arguing was cut short by more falling floors and finally a muttered groan from one person, who was lying in bed, which had actually just fallen. The man sat up wearing his nightgown and… it was obvious that he couldn't see much and he rubbed his eyes.

"This castle needs more money…" he muttered out of pure being-out-of-it-and-still-asleep. "Stupid place flew up above me…"

"Actually, old man, I think you fell," commented Patty, before Dark could shut her up and he hit her over the head, "Ow! What was that for! Besides! He's an evil old man! Evil!"

"Gwah?" the King blinked.

"Huh?" Patty said.

Dark sighed, "We're busted."

(Dark…)

((We'll be fine. It's the girl I'm worried about. She's very… reckless…))

(Not anymore than you. Really Dark.)

The King must have recovered enough to be able to bellow some incoherent words, but over half the guard were already on that same floor, groaning and muttering about their pain. And it was a lot of pain, seeing as they had just fallen with a heap of stone blocks and masonry.

Patty seemed to get the drift of the situation – after pilfering a few candles, or something – and then found a way to drag Dark after her, mainly due to the fact that he still had a hand on her collar. It was a surprise that it wasn't ripped yet, but she wasn't complaining. The women at the house she no worked in for no real reason were just horrid and all, so fresh air was good. Rain was as well… if you were a plant, anyway.

(What's she doin…) began Daisuke, since all he could do was watch, (Da… DARK!)

Without any form of hesitation, Patty jumped out of the window – finally there was a good reason for them not having glass, whatever that was – and that meant that the other was dragged out with her. Instantly Dark called on his wings and the female thief only smiled innocently when he glared at her, her own wings flapping steadily to keep her hovering for the time being.

"Well, my shift's done, so I'll be on my way," she chirped cheerfully, ready to speed off. She stopped when something white – and fuzzy? – beamed up and was about to hit her and she cursed loudly at the sudden attack, her front slightly singed. "What was that!"

Dark blinked. "Well, what do you know…"

A certain someone with white wings was below them, holding a hand out where the power was generating, "You won't get away."

_((Whoa! Lame!))_

_(Huh? Dark, what are you going on about?)_

"_Duh! This is just lame!"_

"_What? Why are you suddenly talking out loud? I just want to go home back to the Dragon Clans!"_

"_Hey, now you're the one talking nonsense!"_

_(Dark, please…)_

"_This is your fault, isn't it? You stupid Thief."_

"_You're the one who started this Krad."_

"_Was I? Dark? Was I?"_

"_Uhm…"_

_(You can't remember, can you?)_

_((Quiet. I'm getting there.))_

"_Hello? We still have a story we need to complete."_

_Patty waved a hand excitedly and managed to hit both Dark and Krad over the head in her excitement. Both shrank into something similar to chibi form and began to scream at her and at each other._

_(This is getting more confusing with each passing stage…)_

000

Satoshi sat up and yawned upon the sound of the castle collapsing. Again. Really, it just happened every day. Why couldn't there be one night where they didn't have to wake up, only to fall to the floor below because the floor had crumbled away again? He doubted that the man who was the King and his so-called father – mother not known. No one knew her – didn't have the _money_ to pay for it. The blue-haired boy had rolled his eyes at that explanation. He was a_ King_ with not enough _money _to even give his place of residence a proper foundation so that it wouldn't roll down the hill one day.

Actually, that had happened when Satoshi was five.

There was the sound of someone knocking on his door and he sighed, "Who and what?"

"Satoshi, are you awake?"

"I wouldn't reply if I wasn't."

"Actually, Terra always holds conversation with me in between snores. It's a habit of hers now." Merei opened the door and entered, looking bored. "And the house is falling apart again."

Satoshi snorted slightly, "And you're telling me?"

"Yup!" she smiled brightly, "So does this mean that you are taking the throne once dad's dead?"

"So I have much of a choice?"

"No. Wait," she frowned for a moment, "Unless you want kill someone of the royal family, or decide to do something that would be a shame to the family so that father would disown you… or something."

He rolled his eyes, "That sounds like something you would do."

"Only if I was told I had to take the throne."

"…"

There was yelling from downstairs and more sounds of crashing as more floor caved in on themselves. Then there was yelling and more yelling, and then more yelling, with a bit of swearing thrown in just for entertainment.

Satoshi sighed and rolled out of his bed, wondering how old the thing was, before going over to his window, Merei following behind him. Then an interesting sight met their eyes.

Two people with black wings – one that looked like a bird's, the other a bat's – seemed to be dodging the attacks of white light with another person with white wings. It was uncommon to see these things so the twins were just standing there, gaping at the scene. Not to mention that the light was putting more force into the castle and it was caving in more than ever.

Then Merei screamed; but it wasn't about the actual scene or the fight they were witnessing.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! THIS IS OUR HOUSE AND OUR GROUNDS YOU'RE FIGHTING ON! GO AWAY BEFORE IT COMPLETELY CRUMBLES BECAUSE OF YOU!"

_:Now this is making no sense whatsoever… and what is Krad doing there? Not to mention I just hate this place. Worse then that apartment…:_

000

Dark dodged another attack when the scream hit him and he reeled back in surprise. Patty's wings seemed to stop in mid-flap and she plummeted for a moment and Krad was… well, he was there, with wings, and looking bored out of his mind. Okay, so he was causing a lot of damage to the house, but it wasn't his responsibility, right? Well, he thought that was right. So what?

Of course the screaming annoyed the hell out of him and that meant he was distracted long enough for the other two to fly out, which was easier seeing that they were in black and all that junk.

The blonde sighed.

Two? He thought there was only supposed to be one.

Oh well.

Upon arrival back at the house, Daisuke took over again and collapsed on the bed, leaving Patty to whatever she wanted to do downstairs. He was scared out of his wits at what had just happened and was instantly reminded of the wedding incident, however many days back. Really, he couldn't remember.

(That was scary…)

((You just have to live with it, Daisuke.))

(But he was trying to kill us!)

((Yeah, well, think of it as a game.))

(HOW CAN YOU THINK OF THAT AS A GAME! HE WAS TRYING TO KILL US!)

((And we lived through it. Get over it already.))

(WHAT PART OF THAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND! THAT—THAT—THAT—THAT—THAT THING WITH THE BLONDE HAIR AND WHATEVER WAS GOING TO KILL US AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS 'GET OVER IT'?)

Dark frowned and stuck his fingers in his ears, ((Okay, I get the point already. Geez.))

Daisuke closed his eyes, happy that Dark finally saw his side of things for once. Not that the Thief would give up on his side of the story.

Honestly, what was the world coming to?

… Next Morning…

Daisuke was back to cleaning the hallways because he needed something to occupy his mind away from listening to Dark's constant ramblings, so Patty was the one who opened the door when decided to knock on it. She had also come to the decision that if it was someone who annoyed her, well, she could always hit them over the head with the dustpan she was holding.

Opening the door, she blinked as she was met with two identical faces, except that one had long hair while the other had short. Was that even allowed in this society? The bat-winged girl wondered as she sized them up.

"… Yes?"

"We're here to see Niwa-kun," the long-haired brunette chirped.

"We're friends of his," added her obvious sister.

Patty would have allowed them in instantly, seeing as they were most likely telling the truth – and not hiding tomatoes under their dresses – but then she remembered that said redhead was wearing a dress as well, so she'd have to check on that. Instead she scratched her the back of her head and unconsciously tugged at her ponytail.

"I don't know. The mistress of the house doesn't like too many guests this early in the morning. Ironically, it's the afternoon," she added softly, more to herself than anyone else, "But if you wait a moment, I'll see if I can allow you access."

They nodded at her request and she bolted off, not really caring about what the fat lady and her so-called daughters thought about unwanted visitors. What she was wondering was what Daisuke's reaction would be.

"Huh? I have guests?" the redhead was blank at this fact, "But no one visits others these days…"

"Oh, they seem to be twins or something," rushed Patty. "One with long hair and the other short. I mean, is that allowed?"

Daisuke seemed to pale slightly at this as her vague description made sense, "The Harada twins! They can't see me like this!"

((You sure, Daisuke?)) chuckled Dark.

"Shut up, Dark!"

"… Okay," Patty shrugged, "I'll just send them on their way then. Maybe you should take a day off and WEAR SOME PANTS. Okay?"

As she walked off, Daisuke sighed, "I didn't ask for this…"

Once she'd sent them off – the girls understood, or something – and she returned to whatever she was doing. Only to have to answer the door again for some really loud guy going on about being Daisuke's childhood friend. Shaking her head, she sent him off and then had to open the door AGAIN from some strange looking police, who she chased off, and then again… and again…

By the time she heard the tenth knock of someone different, Patty seemed to snap and she stomped to the door, opening and almost popping a vein in the process.

"WHAT!"

Some guy wearing a pompous outfit that was supposed to look really upper-class yet wasn't because of all the dust on it and the mud, whatever, held a monocle to his eye and ranted on about some ball that was being held, blah blah blah.

Not being the most polite person in the world, Patty snatched the invitation out of the guy's hands, threw her now full – and heavy – bin at his head and slammed the door behind her.

"And I thought the screeching and wailing upstairs was unbearable," she muttered to herself as she decided to see what the letter was about.

_(Can we go now?)_

_((I'm beat. Need more sleep.))_

_(All you've been doing is sleeping.)_

"_Kyu!"_

"_Hey guys, once this is over can we beat up whoever caused this? Although I'm not much of a fighter…"_

"_UH… okay…"_

"_Kyu!"_

End Stage 7

"This is just ridiculous."

"Hm…"

_Just as we find ourselves more confused, well… it just gets more confusing. Amd trust us, it won't be making any sense soon…_

_

* * *

_  
So I finally did it… Meh. Now to get back to whatever I was working on before this one… I mean… oh well.

Just remember that it could be better, and it could be worse. Thank you.

Reviewer talkback:

Hakudoshi-chan: Uh… right. Glad you… liked it? It sounds like you really are confused…

ImaViet: Okay, this is from chapter one, but thanks for the review and all. I'm glad you enjoyed it… somewhat.

So NOW we can get to the ball… Joy.


	9. Stage 8: We're Invited to WHAT!

FOREWORD: Er… I haven't worked on this for a long time, huh? Oh well. And I'm confusing people, right? Er… that's all part of the job XD

NOTES: The first and last bits are in some void or another, where Akane and Celes comment on the story. So if you don't wanna read it, you don't have to, since it won't affect anything.

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own DNAngel, nor Cinderella, 'cause if I did, then they'd all be blowing up monsters or something. Right, people, right…

IN THE LAST STAGE: Besides the usual, who cares? Dark and Daisuke are still stuck in this world and they have no idea how to get out. And now they've been invited to the ball.

Other:

(--) Daisuke

((--)) Dark

a time space and switching over to different places and characters.

&…& my own rambling opinions. I kinda stopped using it anyway…

_Italics_ are used when Dark and Daisuke – and now Krad and Satoshi - are talking outside the lines of the story. So it shouldn't be too confusing to work out what's going on, hopefully… If you do get confused, just tell me and I'll fix it up.

:--: Satoshi thoughts

:--: Krad's thoughts

COMMENTS: Oooooh… another stage………… (waves flags in salute)

* * *

Stage 8: We're Invited to WHAT!

* * *

Akane yawned and rubbed her eyes. 

…

…

…

What was she doing here again?

Begin Stage 8-

"And due to the fact that you're part of the upper-lower-middle-class blah, blah, blah," Patty read out, bored as she could be. She didn't even know why she was reading this piece of yellow paper; she just wanted to avoid seeing those really, really, really ugly people she had to clean up after, and that was saying a lot.

Daisuke was off somewhere in another room arguing with his alter ego, and upstairs in some other room that held a piano… the family was trying to sing. Well, screech and wail would have been a much better-fitting title to what they were trying to do. As far as the girl could think, they were sucking in as much oxygen as possible, and letting it all go in one long, loud, rather toneless… er… note. And they called that singing.

Plugging her ear as the next wail bounced down the corridors, Patty decided to talk to the redhead about it first, seeing that he was the true owner of this house or whatever it was and all, and it wasn't like they needed to go anyway.

Or did they?

Knocking on the door, Patty poked her head in and Daisuke looked up.

"Hm? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she shoved the letter in his direction, "But you might want to read this first before we come to a conclusion."

The redhead took it, confused, and scanned the letter for a moment. Then he looked up, "So… they're inviting… uh…" he trailed off, now knowing what to say about it.

((Those really, really, really, really, really ugly bitches?)) suggested Dark innocently.

(DARK!)

((Hey, I was just saying.))

"Yeah, they're inviting you're, er, permanent guests," concluded Patty simply, taking the letter back and grimacing, "I swear, if I have to see their faces one more time today, I will scream."

"Kyu?" With blinked from his position of sitting on some counter thing and then hopped around the redhead, who was still trying to tell Dark off for his vocabulary. What was wrong with people these days!

"So… who's going to hand it over to them?" asked Daisuke, looking over his shoulder as he picked up a broom, "They won't read it unless we shove it under their noses, so one of us will have to…"

"Aw… can't we just leave it on the table and leave it to them?" the purple-haired girl said, "I mean, it's their own loss if they don't read it. So there. I mean, I can't even remember why I'm here."

((Trying to keep Daisuke's sanity intact,)) Dark told her, although she obviously couldn't hear him. Of course, his host could, so that could only mean one thing…

(Dark! What are you talking about!) he screamed mentally, and swung the broom at nothing in particular, (You're so mean sometimes! I don't get you at all! Just because you're my alter ego and everything…)

Patty sweat dropped as she watched the boy swinging the broom at nothing and seemed to be angry. So weird…

"Anyway, why don't we just go? It'll be a blast." She waved it around, "We've got a few days, so yeah."

"Er… I don't know…" Daisuke became slightly doubtful and… blinked. Just blinked. He had no idea what else to say about that. "Why? What would be… the point? And the last thing I need… is to face my friends… even in pants… still… and the… er… family won't be too happy either."

"Whatever," shaking her head, she waved the letter around again, "But it's not like we're doing anything interesting anyway. So why not? I'm sick of this place and cleaning it up for no reason."

"Uh-huh…" a suddenly, toneless, high-pitched shriek forced them to cover their ears. It was the sort of shriek that shattered glass and it did; quite literally. Dark watched that happen with a vague hint of amusement while his host tried to tone out the tone that was killing their eardrums.

When it died off – the… er… sister fell into a coughing fit, so that was great and all – and Patty unplugged her ears gratefully.

"Maybe we should just give them the invite," she admitted grudgingly, "But I really, really, really don't want to face them… like face-to-face. Too much pain… it's horrible." She swooned to prove her point and Daisuke couldn't help but grin at her antics.

Then he went right back to thinking. "How about a paper airplane?" he suggested.

"Suddenly I want to throw that broom in their faces," replied Patty.

"Er… okay…"

"But it's the only plan we've got, so full speed ahead," she smiled sweetly and he sweat dropped.

What the hell was she planning this time?

The redhead mentally hit himself for that. He really had to stop allowing Dark to influence him like that.

But that was kind of hard, seeing that Dark was a part of him.

He sighed.

Oh well. As Patty had said, 'full speed ahead.'

_((What… the… hell?))_

_(You're asking me? I have no idea anymore! This is so confusing!)_

_((I thought this was Cinderella.))_

_(Yeah.)_

_((… The dude who thought of this is so messed up.))_

_(Er…)_

"_Hey, what's on your mind?" this was Patty._

"_Uh… a lot? Considering who else is in there."_

"_Oh yeah. Sorry about that."_

"_So… what do you think about the ball?"_

"_What a drag. But I might be able to steal a thing or two worth while."_

"…" _Daisuke sweat dropped._

000

"… What?" Satoshi stared at his father in disbelief. Merei was standing right next to him, also looking shocked, appalled, and close to tears. Then again, she was obviously putting up the 'I'm a little girl' act, so… yeah. But they were both looking daggers at the older man now, who still hadn't gotten over the fact that he had just been face-to-face with a bunch of thieves with no one to protect him.

"Yes, we are holding a ball for your return," he muttered, "And you can't get out of it because I've already sent out the invites. Everyone will be there and--"

"—you're going to be forced to marry some bimbo that no one knows of," finished Merei with a bored look glazed over her face, "Yeah right, dad. Not only are we too YOUNG, but Satoshi has the reputation of chopping people's heads off now; ain't that right, bro?"

"…" Satoshi stared at her.

"Well, we can still choose a fiancé," the King said off-hand, "And someone has to take over the kingdom when I'm gone."

"… And why us?" the blue-haired boy/prince said coolly, pointing a finger up at him, "You know that this will mean I'll be off on another trip around the world for the next couple of decades."

"How can you say that? You have to take over!"

Merei bristled as well, "Yeah! I'm not taking over, that's for sure!"

"Well, you can't force me into it," was all Satoshi said in the end, to conclude the conversation. He was about to leave the room, but some guy burst in, proclaiming in an annoyingly loud voice.

"MAJESTY! SIR HIKARI WISHES TO SPEAK TO YOU."

"Oh, shut up," the king really wasn't in the best of moods that day, clearly.

"BUT SIR--"

"Just send him here and get out!" roared the king.

Satoshi raised an eyebrow and Merei sniggered, "Dad looks ready to blow up on the next person who enters. Poor guy, I do feel sorry for him--" she stopped when she caught sight of Krad.

"…"

"…" taking a deep breath, Satoshi and Merei's father greeted the blonde courteously, who was looking out the window like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Ah, yes. I was wondering when I would be getting an update report. Even though it hasn't been that long…"

Krad's eyes flickered over in the general direction of the three people and then sauntered over to him, noting the fact that there was a lot of rubble on the ground as such.

He bowed briefly, "Majesty, are you absolutely sure that there is only one thief in the crimes that have been committed?"

"I… huh?"

"Last night I came across two thieves… both in the same area. Again, are you sure that there is only one suspect?"

He got a blank stare in return.

"… Maybe I'll just go and do some of my own research." He muttered to himself and left the large room.

_:… YOU:_

_:Hello Satoshi-sama.:_

_:What the hell! How can you be so calm about this:_

_:I just am.:_

_:…:_

_Satoshi shook his head and chose to say nothing else._

000

The singing lessons that the girls… or something… had was rudely interrupted by a flying fur-ball by the name of With and he crashed into one of them, bounced into the piano, onto the ceiling, and right back out again. This caused widespread panic and they began to shriek and run around in circles.

Obviously, Daisuke's stepmother wasn't happy. "COME BACK HERE YOU STUPID FURBALL!"

"Kyu!"

She would have chased after With, but noticed the already open letter sitting at her feet. That was, if letters could sit, but what the hell. She picked it up and pulled out the piece of paper.

Outside, both Daisuke and Patty covered their ears for the shriek that would follow.

Then the door burst open and the three women ran out like it was the end of the world. Considering the fact that most to all people would run and hide to keep away for them, they seemed to be excited enough; but then again, that wasn't a good thing.

"We're invited to the ball!" shrieked one of the two ugly stepsisters.

"I'm going to wear the most expensive dress made!" screamed the other.

Then the arguing started.

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am!"

"Who said!"

"I did!"

"But that's not possible because I'M going to be wearing it!"

"Over my dead body!"

"Girls! GIRLS! SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME--!"

By this time, Daisuke and Patty were out of the house – and yes, the redhead did change into more acceptable clothes – and now they just wandered around the streets with no sense of direction or… anything. It was a lot better than staying in a house with three shrieking women that could burst the eardrums and shatter glass, and no one payed any attention to them anyway.

Glancing into random window and paying no attention whatsoever at the items within, Daisuke couldn't help but think about the past few days, and what was going to happen in the next few days.

It was going to be pure hell.

Patty seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"At the rate they're going, I'm really beginning to hope that they die from a heart attack," she muttered, looking at a set of spoons through a window with vague interest. "I mean, come on. Do you think we can buy some earplugs while we're out here?"

"Well… it's kind of hard to buy anything if we don't have the money." He pointed out simply.

She paused for a moment and thought about it, "Ah… I see. Well, then, I guess we'll just have to meet back at the house then, hm?" she walked off and waved to him, "See ya!"

"…?"

((I guess it's her way of saying that either she needed her own space, or that she knew that you needed some time alone.)) Dark put in mildly, sensing the boy's confusion.

(With you around? I highly doubt it,) Daisuke replied with a shrug. (I wonder where the others are then…)

Well, seeing that the next few days were going to be hell, he might as well make the most of it. Stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants, the redhead walked off aimlessly.

…

And with that, he was tackled by Takeshi, questioned by the twins, and With ran off and had to be chased around the entire town.

Yep, life couldn't get any worse…

… Until he got back home, anyway.

End Stage 8-

…

…

…

…

Oh yeah; whoever was behind this was really going to pay…

000 Daisuke and Patty now have to help the… people to get ready for the ball and… it's different? Oh yeah. Stay tuned! XD ---

What a drag. And I have no idea what I was doing, since it has been a long time since this was done. But I've got to get something finished, so… yeah. That's my excuse.

Reviewer talkback:

Hakudoshi-chan: Er… maybe I did it intentionally? (blinks) Or I'm just stupid enough to do it and confuse the rest of the world. Yeah, that would be my excuse. I even forgot the main plot of this story… (sweat drops) Thanks for reviewing!

kitedragon: I don't know. It just came to me on a whim, so I thought what the hell? Why not? This seems to just jump around with the most ridiculous ideas possible, but whatever. (sighs) What a pointless story this is… and thanks for the review!


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